


Destiny Fulfilled

by FangsOfPoison



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:54:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24276937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FangsOfPoison/pseuds/FangsOfPoison
Summary: From early childhood Altta kept having dreams about a red haired Jedi. When she grew up she vowed to search the Galaxy in hopes of finding other Jedi who may have survived the Purge. On her travels she gets trapped on a planet only to run into the one person she never thought she would ever see again. Joining the crew of the Mantis she helps them on their mission to rebuild the Jedi Order but the more time she spends with Cal Kestis the more frequent and more vivid her dreams get. Could it be a vision of a future to come? Or is it just wishful thinking?
Relationships: Cal Kestis/Original Character(s), Cal Kestis/Original Female Character(s), Cal Kestis/Reader
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! So this is the first time I have written a fanfiction for anything Star Wars related but I love Cal so much that I thought it was about time :D. The character of Altta is one of 3 OC's I have for SW. Each one is for each different timeline in the movies (I'm counting Fallen Order as being part of the Luke movies timeline) and each are actually Mother, Daughter and Granddaughter. I do intend on writing stuff for my other SW OC's at some point but I've been so invested in Cal that he's all I can think about story wise.  
> This first chapter was bashed out pretty much in an hour. I'm not very good at writing beginnings. The idea's I have for my fic's always seem to start in the middle so I hope this doesn't suck to much. I am hopefully going to be uploading a chapter w week but I already have quite a few chapters written already so I will get them up as quickly as possible.  
> Anywho...I hope you enjoy the story of Altta and Cal and please feel free to leave me any comments with ideas or suggestions of what you would like to see happen with them....I already have soooooo many ideas but I love other peoples input. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

"There she is! Get her!"  
The squad of six Imperial Storm troopers opened fire with their blasters as the girl they were aiming at ducked from cover to what little cover she could find in the open grass land. When she had picked up a distress call from this planet she had no idea that the transmission was a trap set up by the Empire until she had entered the atmosphere and was shot down by them. Now she was stuck here with a broken ship and being hunted by every trooper on this godforsaken rock! She didn't even know the name of this planet to send a SOS herself and even if she did, her droid was destroyed when her ship crash landed so she was completely alone. He only hope now was to lose the troops she had on her tail and hide somewhere until she could get back to her ship and see if anything was salvageable. As she hit the last cover she realized her only option here was to fight her way out of this situation. There was no way she could reach the treeline ahead of her without being killed. She pulled her blaster from the holster on her leg and raised it in preparation. Taking a deep breath she leaned around the side of the box she was hiding behind and took a shot, firing three times she managed to hit one of them in the chest, taking it out. She ducked back in the cover as the rest opened fire on her. When they needed to allow their weapons to cool down, she peaked out again and took out two more. If she could just take out one more she would be able to dodge the shots of the two that was left and make it to the tree line. She ducked in and out one more time and manage to take two more down with her final round of shots. Deciding it was time she left the relative safety of her cover and ran as fast as she could to the trees, dodging blaster shots by zig-zaging. She just about made it to where she needed to be when all of a sudden she felt something burning on her side, knocking her to the ground. She cried out loud, clutching her left side waiting for death. The storm trooper would defiantly now have the time to get to her and finish her off but it never came. She struggled to her feet feeling the ache in her side and she looked in the direction of where the trooper was raising her blaster to take him out but as she looked she saw him already on the floor lifeless. She looked around for any indication of what killed him but she couldn't see anything. Holstering her blaster, she turned and ran not really knowing where she was running to.

After she ran for what felt like hours, she reached an abandoned hanger. She ran inside it and collapsed behind a stack of crates in a dark corner. She closed her eyes as breathed deep. The blaster hit in her side was hurting like hell and she could feel herself getting light headed. She had to get to her ship soon to get the supplies to treat her wounds otherwise she'd be a goner for sure. She was just thinking about making a move again when from her left she heard something...Something that sounded like running electricity. She turned just in time to see a black claded Purge Trooper swing his Electro Hammer down at her. She rolled out of the way dodging it just in time as it slammed into the ground where she had just been sat. She stumbled to her feet and pulled out her blaster. There was no way she'd be able to defeat a Purge Trooper in her condition but maybe she could slow it down enough for her to escape. She fired several blast shots at it which he managed to reflect, one bouncing off his hammer and knocking the blaster for her hand. She was very quickly running out of options.  
"Your trespassing here....Your choices are to surrender or die..."  
She tilted her head downwards, taking a fight or flight stance. "To surrender to the Empire is to die..."  
"So be it..." The Purge trooper swirled his hammer in his hand and then slammed it onto the ground. It sent out a shock wave so strong that it knocked the girl off her feet, landing on her back and winding her. Between the shock of the fall and the wound on her side she found she couldn't get back up again. The Purge Trooper advanced on her and raised his hammer over his head for the final blow. He swung down wards and just before it hit her the girl raised her right hand and the hammer slowed, eventually stopping as the Trooper was blasted off his own feet and blown against the hard metal wall of the hanger. With a grunt he feel to the floor and didn't get back up again. He wasn't dead, just knocked out. The girl fell back against the cold floor trying to catch her breath. She knew she had to get moving before he woke up because as soon as he did she would be in more danger than she was before. She rolled onto her stomach and with much effort pushed up on her hands and feet into a standing position. She still clung to the wound on her side and she was feeling even more light headed than she was before. She stumbled out of the hanger, stumbling every few feet, and rounded the corner to the landing pad. She didn't know if she was hallucinating because of the blood loss or if it was real but she was surprised to see a ship touched down at the far end. It defiantly wasn't one that had been there for a while. It looked in way to good a condition and on top of that the engine was running. She scanned the area for any sign of Imprial scouts but she saw none. Her next decision would mean life or death. Either take a chance and find out if the ships owners were friend or foe or try and make it back to her ship and risk bleeding out before she got there. Either way she would probably die. Taking a deep breath she started to make her way towards the downed ramp of the ship but was stopped in her tracks when the blast doors opposite the ship opened and the sound of blaster fire sounded out followed by another familiar sound. As she watched the blue length of light from a Lightsaber appeared out of the door way being swung around and taking out several troopers with ease. The wielder of the Lightsaber was a thin man with deep red hair. The girl couldn't see much of his face as her vision was starting to get blurry but she could see enough to know that he was young. A Jedi? It looked like her gamble had paid off.  
"Cal! Come on...!" She looked towards where the voice came from and saw a dark skinned woman half way down the ramp of the ship shooting a blaster in aid of the Jedi.  
"Cal...?" The girl whispered to herself, the name settling on her lips in a familiar way. She pushed herself forward hoping to reach the ship before it took off. She was nearly there when her legs suddenly gave way causing her to fall to her knees switch an audible grunt. The woman on the ramp turned to the girl, pointing the blaster in her direction. The girl looked up at the woman, trying to plead with her eyes and her vision started to become dark, the power of speech leaving her as she succumbed to her wounds. The woman lowered her blaster, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the girl. She tried to get to her feet once more but instead she fell forward, landing on her side on the ground. With her last bit of vision left she saw the Purge Trooper from before leaning over her. "...Found you..." She had no fight left in her and waited for the inevitable but once again it never came. The last thing she remembered before she lost consciousness was the Purge Trooper being struck down by the Jedi's saber and his red hair so much like fire blowing in the wind...


	2. Chapter 2

"Now Younglings. Gather round, you must." Master Yoda sat on a rock and the entrance to the Jedi temple on Ilum. The young Padawan's all arose from their spots where they had been meditating and gathered around the little green Jedi in a semi circle. It was that time again where the Padawan's who were deemed ready by their Master's were sent to find their own Kyber Crystals to build their own Lightsabers. Each child here was between the ages of seven and 10, the usual age's for this right of passage. The planet of Ilum has a harsh environment of snow and ice but the large crystals hanging from the ceiling of the temple reflected the light though them that heated the temple up enough to keep everyone warm. The younglings listened silently to the elder Jedi's instructions. "The time has come. Find your crystals, you must, to build your lightsabers.... Some will succeed, others will fail. Try you must, to feel your crystal. Through the Force, speak to you, it will..." When Master Yoda had finished his instructions, he waved his hand and used the Force to open the large doors leading deeper in the temples Crystal Caves. When they were open fully, the other Jedi Masters who were there to supervise the Younglings signaled them to enter. Some ran, others walked hesitantly into the monstrance cavern in search for their Crystals. One by one the Padawan's slowly returned back to the temple's entrance having found their crystals. All but one...A young girl of 10 sat against one of the icy cavern walls, her knees pulled up to her chest, her brown hair pushed back from her face by a band across her head. She hadn't managed to find her crystal and was to ashamed to go back and face her Master deciding it was better to stay here an hope that one day her crystal would reveal itself to her. She was staring into space when a voice pulled her out of her thoughts.  
"Hey. Are you okay?" She looked up to see a young male human, around her age. He had short reddish hair with the usual braid that all male padawan's sported. His cream and brown Padawan robes blew around him with the slight wind blowing though the cave. The girl looked up at him but said nothing, then she looked down and saw a glowing stone in his hand. So this one had found his crystal too. The girl looked away even more ashamed of herself. Noticing her reaction to his crystal, he tucked in safely in a pouch on his belt and leaned down next to the girl. "Have you found your Crystal yet?" She looked up at his face, taking note of his green eyes. The sharpness of them causing her to momentarily forget the question before she shock her head no. The young boy sighed and put his hand on her shoulder in a kind gesture. "Hey, don't worry. A lot of great Jedi Masters didn't find their Kyber Crystals on their first visit..."  
"Yeah? Name one...?"  
The boy smiled upon hearing the girls voice. "Well....I can't think of any of the top of my head, but I know their have been some..."  
The girl looked away from the boy again, her face threatening to show the emotions she could feel settling behind her eyes. "Master will be so disappointed...." She whispered, almost to herself.  
"I'm sure they wont..."  
The girl looked at the boy once again. "You don't know my Master......." This time the girl let one tear fall from her eye and run down her cheek. "....How can I face them all? I failed...."  
The boy sighed as he stood up, looking behind him as one of the Masters called for all Padawans to return to the entrance. He turned back to the girl and held out his hand to her. "Come on..." The girl looked at his hand for a while, deciding to take it or not. Eventually she reached up, placing her hand in his and he pulled her to her own feet. With his other hand he reached up and brushed the tear from her face. "...Let's face them and your Master together, okay?" He smiled warmly at her and she couldn't help but smile back. She nodded once and the went together hand in hand back to join up with the others.  
"I'm Cal, by the way. Cal Kestis."  
"I'm Altta...."

\------  
Altta woke with a start, her eyes shooting open as wide and dinner plates. What a strange dream to have at such a time. She blinked away the blurriness in her eyes and looked around her. She didn't recognize the place she had woken up in but from what she could tell from her surroundings it was a ship of some sort. She just hoped it wasn't an Imperial one. As she looked to her left she saw a small droid staring up from her from the floor. It was white with red stripes down it two legs and adorning his head. He had two large lenses in the form of eyes on the front of his slightly rectangled shapped head which gave him a almost cute factor...He tilted his head to the side as he looked at her. Okay, he was absolutely adorable. She smiled as best she could at him. "Hello." Her voice was a bit croaky from sleep. Altta's reaction seemed to make the droid happy as he perked up, jumping slightly as he straightened up.  
"Beeeep-Beep?"  
"I'm okay. A bit sore but alive at least...Thank you for asking."  
"Beep-Beep-Beeeep."  
"Nice to meet you BD-1. I'm Altta..."  
The little droid made a noise of happiness and span around on one of his feet. Slowly Altta started to sit up, wincing at the slight pain in her side. Her joints were stiff from obviously laying in the same place for quite a while but the wound on her side didn't seem as bad as it was. She looked down to see a large bandage wrapped around her abdomen above her clothing. She swung her legs around the side of the bunk that she was laying on and placed them flat on the floor.   
"Beeep!"  
"Don't worry, I'll be careful..." Altta took a deep breath in and tried to stand but she didn't get very far, falling back to the bunk when her side screamed at her. "Damn it..."  
BD-1 beeped at her and opened up a slot from the side of his head. Inside it was a small green vile and he beeped at her again telling her to take it.  
"A stim? Are you sure?"  
"Beep."  
"Thank you BD." Altta took the stim and stabbed it into her abdomen near the wound. She sighed in relief as the pain almost instantly disappeared. She smiled down at the droid. "Thanks BD."  
He didn't answer, instead running out of the room apparently expecting Altta to follow. She was a bit hesitant to leave the room. She still wasn't sure what type of ship this was or who owned it. While she seems to have made a new friend in BD-1 the rest of the crew may not be as pleasant. As she was contemplating what to do she started to hear voices from beyond the door. One was female and one was male.  
"...And you brought her onto my ship?! What were you thinking!?" The male voice sounded more scared than annoyed.  
"She was hurt and I couldn't just leave her there... If we didn't help her she would have died or worse...The Empire would have got their claws into her." The female voice replied, you recognized it as the voice of the woman that had called out on the landing docks.  
"Well, I guess your right....But how do you know you can trust her?" The males voice seemed a bit more relaxed.  
"I just know...I can feel it..."  
It was at that moment that Altta decided to make her self known. Stepped out of the room and down the corridor coming to an open area. A small kitchen and dinning table was to her right, the cocpit was directly ahead of her just behind a holomap table. A few more steps down lead to a sitting area that consisted of a round table and a sofa that circled around half it it. It was here where the persons belonging to the voices were sat. The both looked up at Altta as she slowly made her way down the steps towards them. One was human, the woman she had seen before and the male was a Latero. Altta had never seen one in the flesh and from what she had read they were all but extinct after the Empire pretty much wiped out their entire planet but here one was as real as the nose on her face.  
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something..."  
"Not at all..." The woman said as she turned in her seat to face her. "How are you feeling? You've been asleep for days..."  
"I'm fine...That little droid of yours gave me a stim so the pain is under control for now."   
"That's good. BD has a knack for looking after people...Especially thoughs he likes." Altta didn't know if the woman in front of her was being sincere or if she was testing her but either way she chose to ignore it.  
"I'm sure he wasn't the only one...He's a smart droid but I doubt he's able to bandage someone up." Altta moved her hand away from her stomach to bring attention to her wound up stomach.  
"No, of course not." The woman patted the sofa next to her signaling for Altta to sit down. Altta hesitated for a moment before she joined them, lowing down slowly so as not to aggravate her wound. "My name is Cere Junda and this here is the captain of this ship, Greez Dritus." She said signaling towards the Latero who in turn gave a shy wave. She nodded at him in response. "I suppose I should thank you both for saving my life..."  
"Oh we didn't save you. No, in fact if it was up to me we would have left you right where you were..." Greez's words were harsh but fair, why would anyone risk their lives to help a stranger. Especially a stranger that had incurred the wrath of the Empire.   
"I didn't want to leave you there...." Cere emphasized the word 'I' "....But Greez is right, it wasn't us who saved you."  
She looked at both of them in confusion. "You didn't? Then who...?" It was at that moment that you remembered the Jedi but Cere decided to change the subject before you had even brought it up.  
"We can talk about that later. We have a few questions for you first."  
Altta shifted in her seat preparing herself to answer difficult questions she knew was bound to come up. "Sure. What would you like to know?"  
"For starters your name would be nice..." She smiled slightly at Altta which she couldn't help but smile back.  
"Altta. My name is Altta..."  
"You have a last name that goes with that..?" Greez asked her.  
Altta looked between them, afraid to answer. This was the most difficult question of all. If anyone found out her heritage and even more so, if it got back to the Empire she could be in serious trouble. She struggled to find the words as she kept moving her gaze between the two.  
"It's okay." Cere said finally. "I understand that you want to protect yourself... Especially because of this..." She lifted something in her hand that she had been hiding between her and Greez. It was a Lightsaber. Altta's Lightsaber. Altta sucked in a deep breath as Cere slowly brought it across her and placed it in Altta's hands. She let out the breath with relief and clutched it tightly in her lap.  
"That is yours, right?" Cere asked  
"Yes....Well, it was my Grandfathers. My Mother entrusted it to me before I left..." Altta couldn't look up as she felt a hot wave behind her eyes as the memory flooded her mind.  
Cere was silent for a while before she spoke up. "...I recognize that Saber. I remember it's owner..." Altta looked up at her. "That Lightsaber belonged to the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. He had a daughter who married his own apprentice...If your saying that it belonged to your Grandfather than that would make you..."  
"A Kenobi..." Altta finished with a smile. "Altta Kenobi. Obi-Wan Kenobi is my father....And my teacher."  
"So you are a Jedi then." It was more a statement then a question.  
"In training...I never quite finished my training." It was quite again for a few minuets as everyone processed what they had just learned. "If you knew Qui-Gon, then I'm guessing your familiar with the Order...I'm not the only Jedi here, am I?" Altta asked, hoping to get some more information about the young man she had seen.  
"No." Cere answered, seeming hesitant. "I won't go into much detail about it now but I used to be a Jedi Master but not anymore. And then of course...There's Cal..."  
"Cal?" Something about that name triggered something in Altta. Ever since she first heard that name something was drawing her towards whoever owned that name.  
"Yeah, the Kid...We tracked him down a few months ago...Been with us ever since. If you really want to thank anyone for saving your ass, it's him. If it wasn't for his quick thinking you'd have been a red paste on the floor by now." Greez remarked as he got up and moved to the kitchen. "I don't know about you but I'm starving..."  
Altta looked at Cere and leaned in so she could lower her voice. "Is he around? I mean, I'd like to thank him myself..." It was more to it than than. Altta wanted to see his face...Needed to see his face.   
Cere motioned with her hand to an open doorway that lead out of the ship. Altta hadn't noticed it before. "He's out there somewhere..Training probably."  
With one last nod of thanks Altta stood, the pain in her side completely gone now thanks to the stim. She clipped her Lightsaber to her belt and made her way to the door. Just before she stepped though it, she turned back to Cere. "Where is here, exactly?"  
"Somewhere Jedi like you can be safe.." She said, standing and patting your shoulder as she passed you on her way to join Greez in the kitchen.   
With nothing else to be said, Altta left the ship.

\----  
Altta made her way slowly down the ramp, the bright sun almost blinding her after spending so much time in a dark ship making her shield her eyes with her hand. The wind was strong but not cold, blowing her long, wavy brown hair around her body. Her eyes finally adjusted enough to remove her hand away and when she did she sucked in a breath of admiration. The planet she was on was beautiful. It was wet and muddy but despite that the sky was blue and green grass stretched along the ground as far as the eye could see. The terrain was rocky and was surrounded by cliffs and gorges which would explain the wind, being so high up. As her feet touched the ground from the ramp she looked ahead of her in amazement. In front of her, rising high into the sky was a tall building with statues of a race she didn't recognize either side of her. The building itself reminded her of a Temple of some sort. Altta close her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the Force all around her. This place had such a powerful spirituality to it that ran all though it's roots and seeped into her though her feet, filling her who body with calm and warmth. She focused her mind, gradually relaxing with each breath she took when she started to feel something else...Another presence nearby. She walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down, seeing below her the figure of a person, flame red hair blowing in the wind. There was a slope to the side leading down and she took it slowly, careful not to slip down with the mud. As she got closer she could see he was meditating. He was kneeling on a patch of grass, his back turned to her and his hands resting gently on his thighs. She approached him slowly not wanting to disturb him and as she got closer she could see the rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed. She stopped a few feet from him waiting for him to finish. It was almost as if he sensed her there because he almost too quikcly stood up, running his hand though his hair as he did. Altta still didn't say anything as she just stood there watching him. BD ran to his side, seemingly out of no where and beeped at him.  
"Hey Bud..." He said to the little droid as he looked down at him. Altta still couldn't see his face clearly.  
"Beep-Beep-Beep?"  
The man chuckled. "Yeah I'm about done for the day."   
"Beep..."  
"She is? How is she?" The droid beeped at him again and in response to what BD had just told him he turned around, a look of surprise on his face. Seeing his face clearly for the first time Altta felt as if her feet were rooted to the spot and her eyes were glued on him. His skin was clear and pale with tiny brown freckles dotted across his nose and cheeks. He had two scars marring his face, one cutting right across the bridge of his nose and the other jutting down the right hand side of his jaw. But what she noticed about him the most was his eyes...His deep, piercing green eyes. Altta felt an instant attraction to the man in front of her but it was more than just infatuation. She'd had crushes on boys from her home planet but nothing like this. No, this was something more... It was like there was something unseen that was pulling her towards him. The look on his face made it seem as if he was just as shocked to see her up and about. He started to make his way towards Altta and she closed the gap with the last few feet. Finally they were face to face, Altta looking into the eyes of her savior for the first time. He gestured with his hands at her and smiled. "It's good to see you up and about...I hope your feeling okay?" Altta smiled back, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Now she was looking at him properly he seemed so familiar to her. "I am, thank you.....And I guess I should thank you for saving my life too." She gestured up towards the way of the ship when he looked at her confused. "The others told me..."  
"Ahh. So you meet the crew of the Mantis then?"  
"The Mantis? That's a funny name for a star ship..."  
The man chuckled. "The Stinging Mantis... And I though the same at first too. But its a good ship, with a good crew."  
From the side of him the little droid beeped making both people look down at him. "Like this little guy here...."  
"I know, we've met..." Altta squatted down and placed her hand on BD's head. He beeped at her, asking her a question. "...Yeah, it helped a lot, the pains all gone. Thanks BD." She stood back up after giving the droids head a pat and met the mans eyes again.  
"You understand him?"  
"Sure. I've been around droids all my life so I've picked it up...Plus they taught it as an elective at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."  
It was then that the man glanced down and took note of her Lightsaber at her side. "So you really are a Jedi?" He said gesturing to it. Altta gestured to his own one at his side. "Same goes for you."  
He nodded placing his hand on his saber, a sad look crossing his face. "Yeah...." There was obviously more to his story then just being a Jedi on the run but it seemed now wasn't the right time to share it.  
"Your Cal, right?" He looked up surprised that she knew his name. "Cere told me... They also told me that you were the one responsible for rescuing me. In fact four arms in there made it very clear that I'd be very, very dead if you hadn't been there."  
Cal chuckled. "Sorry about that. Greez can be a little blunt sometimes but he learns to grow on ya..."  
Altta chuckled herself. "I'm Altta by the way. Altta Kenobi."  
Cal's eyes narrowed as if he was in deep thought. "...That name is so familiar, but I can't think where I've heard it before." He said more to himself then to Altta.  
"Maybe you've heard of my father...He was a member of the Jedi Council before the Purge."  
"Maybe....But it's not that part that's familiar....I'm sure it will come to me eventually." He gently slapped his hand on Altta's shoulder and started to walk along the lower cliffs edge, silently telling her to follow. She fell into step with him and they walked in silence for a while. "So how are you liking Bogano so far?" He asked waving his hand around the landscape around them.  
"Bogano? So that's the name of this planet?" Altta took in her surroundings once again. Now knowing it's name it seemed to fit it very well.  
"Yeah. It's out of the reach of the Empire so it's safe... A Jedi Master called Eno Cordova found it before the Purge and settled here for a while. Cere brought me here after finding me working as a scrapper on Bracca...Been using it as a home base ever since."  
So he'd been hiding as a scrapper? That would explain the outfit and his slight roughness around the edges. Altta wanted to ask him if that's where he'd been since escaping the Purge but it seemed there was more important things he wanted to discuss. The pair chatted casually about the planet, it's wildlife and about how Cal had found BD-1 his first time arriving on Bogano and eventually they had made their way to the tall building that Altta had seen earlier. The pair of Jedi's stopped at the bottom of the muddy slope that led up to the building and looked up at it. "This place..There's something about it that feels like it's pulling me in...Something inside of it." Altta's voice was almost a whisper.  
"It was build hundred of years ago by and ancient civilization called the Zeffo... A race of Force wielders."  
"So it is a temple..." Altta said with a small smile as she walked a bit closer to it.  
"Yes...it was built to hide something inside. Something that Cordova discovered which brought him to this planned in the first place."  
"What's inside it?" Altter turned her attention back to Cal.  
"A holocron. It contains a list of Force Sensitive children..."  
Altta was starting to get the picture. "...Your trying to rebuild the Jedi Order by using that list?" Cal nodded and Altta stepped back closer to him, suddenly feeling a rush of excitement. "Do you understand what this means Cal?! We finally have a chance to kick back at the Empire..." With oen thought though, that excitement left her. "...But if they ever got their hands on it..."  
"Every child on that list will be hunted down and murdered, I know.." Cal finished. "...Don't worry, the Empire has no idea about it yet. In fact, we haven't even been able to get it ourselves." Cal moved to the side and sat down on a rock, Altta following him but continued to stand. "..Cordova hid the holocron inside the temple and left a trail of breadcrumbs so that one day a Jedi would follow his clues and retrieve the list...That's why we were on Zeffo. The first clue lead us there..." Cal twisted his hands together, playing with his fingers. Clearly the trip didn't go as planned...  
"Did you find anything?" Altta asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Cal looked up at her and smiled. "We found you.." Altta smiled back and took a seat on the rock beside him. "What were you doing on Zeffo anyway?" He asked turning slightly to face her.  
"Same thing you were in a way. I was looking for other Jedi...I've been traveling around the Galaxy chasing stories and myths of Jedi's who survived the Purge. I figured that if people like my mother and father managed to survived the Purge then other must have... And I was right.." She said gesturing with her hand at Cal and chuckling with no real emotion behind it.  
"And other than me...Any luck?"  
Altta shock her head. "No. Mainly just wild goose chases. I was on my way back to Dantooine where I'd set up base when I intercepted a distress signal coming from the planet...Turns out it was a trap set up by the Emprie. They shot me down before I had a chance to figure out what was going on..."  
"The Inquisitors must have been expecting a Jedi at some point... I just didn't think they would lure them in that way..."  
"Inquisitors?" Altta said surprised. She had heard of them, knew of their reputation but never come across one...Yet. "..Don't tell me you have the Inquisitors after you as well as the entire Imperial army?"  
Cal at least had the decency to look apologetic. "Unfortunately yes. I kind of made an enemy of the Second Sister when she discovered me back on Bracca...She's been hunting me ever since...And now she probably knows about you too."  
Altta sighed. "Well I guess that would explain all the Purge troopers around..."  
"About that...If you had it, why didn't you use your Lightsaber when he attacked you? You seem strong enough to be able to take care of yourself."  
"Not all situations require the use of a Lightsaber. I only use it when there's no other choice. Exposing myself is not something to take likely..."  
Cal understood and felt somewhat ashamed of himself for being so careless on Bracca. A lot of things could have been avoided had he just kept his cool back then...Even despite Praffs death. The pair were silent for a while before Altta slapped her hand against her thighs and stood up. "Well Cal, I'd like to help you on your mission. I may not have much to bring to the table at the moment." She gestured to her injured side. "But I figure two sabers are better than one...If you'll have me that is?"  
Cal smiled and BD popped up from over Cal's right shoulder. "I don't know? What do you think BD?" The little droid beeped and Cal stood to be eye level with Altta. "Welcome aboard."   
Cal reached out his right, un-gloved hand smiling, Altta took it in hers. As soon as their hands touched, skin on skin, it felt like a bolt of lightning ran though their joined hands and a vision flashed in her mind, almost like a movie being played right in front of her. The image of her younger self back in the temple on Ilum taking the hand of a young Jedi with sharp green eyes.   
"I'm Cal, by the way. Cal Kestis."  
Almost instantly the pair pulled their hands back with a gasp. Both were breathing heavily as they looked at each other.   
"...Kestis..." Altta whispered for only herself to hear.  
Cal looked at her in shock. "A Force Echo...It's never happened with a person before..." Again, it was almost as if he was talking to himself.  
"...Kestis..." Altta said again, this time a little louder.  
"What?" Cal remarked at her  
"Your Cal Kestis....You were there that day, at The Gathering..."  
"You saw that too?"   
Altta ignored the question instead she smiled genuanly for the first time since waking up. "...You were the one who helped me after I couldn't find my Crystal...You took my hand and took away my fear of failing..."  
"Yeah, I remember...You were so scared of facing your Master without your Crystal.." Cal's face lit up too with a smile.  
"I knew your name sounded familiar...I always wondered if you---" She didn't finish that sentence. Without thinking she closed the gap between them until they were almost nose to nose and placed her hand upon his chest. "...I'm so glad your alive..." Cal's hands instinctively wrapped themselves around Altta's biceps and the two stood smiling at each other for they didn't know how long. The mood was eventually broken by BD beeping at them that it was nearly dinner time. The pair pulled apart, both their faces going bright red and them not being able to look each other in the face.  
"We should head back to the Mantis...Greeze gets really grouchy if anyone is late for one of his meals..." Altta agreed and together the two made their way back to the ship.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I played around with a Altta's backstory in this chapter a little...While not everything I've said about Qui-Gon Jin is incorrect, I've made a few things up about him to fit the story...Please don't take anything I've said as cannon for any of the official characters of the Star Wars universe.

The crew including their newest member enjoyed one of the best meals that Altta had has since leaving home. They talked about Cal's rescue from Bracca, what they had been doing up until this point and what the next plan was. Their next destination would be the forest planet of Kashyyyk to track down the Wookiee Chieftain Tarfful who may have some information to help them on their quest. Even though Altta was adiment that she was well enough to go straight there everyone agreed that it would be best to postpone the trip another few days until she was fully recovered. After helping Cere clean away the dinner things and scoring some points with Greez by admiring his plants, it was decided that it was time to call it a night. Cal told Altta that Greez and Cere slept on the ship but that Cal himself had managed to clean up one of the rooms used by Cordova enough to be hospitable. Cal led Altta down a long flight of large stone steps, though a sliding bulk door and down a hallway into a large circular room at the end. BD ran over to a switch on the wall and turned on the light. There wasn't much in the room but what there was of seemed very comfortable. There was a large double bed with fresh sheets directly in front of the door, to the right there was a bowl and jug for washing in and to the left there was a workbench stacked with tools and random bits of scrap metal. Altta walked to the middle of the room and spun slowly in a circle. Cal's presence here was everywhere.  
"It's not much but then I don't really spend much time here anyway..." Cal said, embarrassingly rubbing the back of his neck. Altta turned to face him. "This is your room?"  
Cal didn't answer, just nodded. "Where will you sleep?"  
"I'll hunker down on the Mantis...Its where I usually sleep when we're off planet anyway."  
"You really don't have to Cal....I can-"  
Cal held up his hand to silence her with a smile. "Don't worry about it. I've slept on much worse." Altta smiled back at him knowing it was probably true. "There's another room down the hall. Tomorrow me and you will clean it out and move you in there. Deal?"  
"Deal."  
Cal walked past her to the door, tapping her shoulder as he went. "Get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."  
"Thanks Cal." With one last smile Cal left with BD in tow, closing the door behind him. Altta took a deep breath and walked up to the workbench. She un-clipped her Lightsaber from her belt, holding it gently in both hands. As she gazed at it she could feel the presence of her grandfather. It was some comfort to her knowing that her mother trusted her enough to have something so precious. She sighed lowing it down into the holder on the workbench. Clearly Cal did a lot of maintenance to his own saber with all the spare parts laying around. Altta sighed once again and turned to the bed moving towards it while taking off her belt. She sat down on the edge and untied the laces on her knee high heeled boots before slipping them off. She didn't bother with the rest of her cloths, flopping down against the pillow. The bed was surprisingly soft and the blankets were warm and soon Altta drifted off into a easy sleep.

Almost Altta started to dream. She knew it was a dream because of the blurriness around the edges and it seemed like everything was going in slow motion but the feelings with it were very real. She was looking upon a scene from a third person view. A man wearing Jedi robes stood atop a slope with his hands behind his back. She couldn't see any details about him as the blurriness continued over his head. Below him at the bottom of the slope was a stone training ground littered with different color lights making all sorts of patterns. A new batch of Jedi were training, some young, some slightly older, all trained together practicing their combat skills. Suddenly a tiny voice sounded behind the male Jedi. "Daddy!" The man turned as a boy and a girl, both wearing Jedi clothing ran up to him. Both couldn't be any more then five years old. The man bent down and opened his arms out in a familiar way. Both children ran into his arms and he lifted them up, pulling them both into a tight embrace as they all laughed together. He then placed both children back on their feet and the boy ran down the slope towards the training Jedi. Just then, a woman also wearing Jedi robes walked into shot towards the man and girl. She was holding another child of no more than a year old. As she reached the man he placed his arm around and they both leaned in planting a loving kiss on each others lips. After they pulled away, the man reached up with his hand and stroked the babies cheek. Just like the male, all the persons faces were blurred so Altta couldn't see who they were, or who they could be. "Come on, lets go!" The boy shouted, waving his hand at the others gesturing them to come. Both adults took both of the girls hands in one of theirs and as a family they walked down the slope to join the training....

Altta's eyes slowly fluttered open. It was one of those dreams. Not entirely unpleasant but somewhat annoying when she couldn't see all the details. There was a faint ray of sun coming though the slightly open fanbay in the ceiling. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of the sleep and slowly sat up. She was surprised to see Cal stood at the workbench with his left hand wrapped around her Lightsaber. His eyes were closed and he had a far off look on his face. She was just about to call his name when his eyes opened and his hand fell to his side. He turned to look at Altta. "This Lightsaber was your grandfathers."  
"Cere told you?" Altta sat up, keeping the blanket over her lower half.  
"I err...I saw it..Sorry, I should have asked..." She looked at him confused as he walked towards the bed and sat down on the edge.  
"How did you see it?" Altta asked him leaning in a bit closer. Cal stumbled for a bit as if he was trying to find the right words to described it. "It's an Echo in the Force...Like a memory stored in the object itself..."  
"You mean you can use Psychometry?!" Altta was impressed.  
"You know about Psychometry?"  
"Sure. I may have lived on a backwater planet for the last five years but both my parents were high ranking Jedi. Their both fountains of knowledge..." Altta rolled her eyes will a smile, silently telling him that not everything they told her was necessary or indeed welcome. "...That's a very rare gift Cal...You should be very proud to have it." She reached over and tapped his hand.  
"Yeah, but it can also be a curse sometimes.... Not all memories are good ones..."  
"Yeah, I guess I can understand that...Some gifts can be a huge burden.." Both could sense that this was a sensitive subject and Altta was grateful when Cal went back to his original topic of conversation.  
"Your grandfather...Qui-Gon Jin...I read about him when I was a Padawan. He's down in the history books as being one of the greatest Jedi Masters ever..." Cal had admiration in his voice and it made Altta smile.  
"He was. But he was also one of the most troublesome....The bane of the Council sometimes. He didn't always agree with the way Jedi were told to live their lives so he rebelled...My mother was the result as one of those rebellious acts."  
"Both your parents are Jedi, right?" Altta nodded. "But I'm confused...Back before the Purge, wasn't it forbidden for Jedi to marry and have children."  
Altta crossed her legs but still keeping the blanket across her lap. Clearly she was getting ready for a long story time. "It's more common than you think Cal. How do you think more Jedi are born?"  
"The Force chose them. You know, like a random thing...Some are sensitive to it, some are not."  
"Well yes, that's true but there's more to it than that." Cal just looked at her as if she had grown two heads. "Okay, so my mother once told it to me like this...Some Jedi are stronger with the Force than others, right? Well sometimes the Council would permit certain Jedi to marry and have offspring to carry on that strong bloodline. Of course the Jedi in question have to have certain backgrounds and criteria for them to accept the marriage. Both parties have to have strong Force abilities, they should be high ranking members of the order, they both should have a long family history of Force Sensitives in their linage...Etc. Well in the case of my parents, my father was a member of the Council and a very valued General during the Clone Wars. My mother came from a long line of Jedi. Her father, her Grandfather, her Great Grandfather and so on for generations...." Altta was starting to get really into her story. She had never been able to tell it to someone else before now and it felt amazing to get it out. She was very proud of who her parents were and wanted as many people to know how amazing they were. Cal, with all his sweetness, sat listening with a genuine smile on his face. "...My father was actually my Grandfathers Padawan and when my mother joined the order, Qui-Gon took her on as his second apprentice. Another one of those rebellious acts. That's how my parents met."  
"And they fell in love?" Cal asked, smile still across his lips.  
"And they fell in love....They went to the Council asking them to bless their union. They were married for one whole year and when boom...They had a beautiful baby girl who naturally was also strong in the Force..." Altta grinned gesturing to herself. Cal chuckled, shaking his head almost like he didn't believe the story.  
"Your Grandfather... Did you ever get to meet him?"  
Altta's grin fell and she looked down at her lap. "Err no...He died before I was born... He was killed by a Sith on Naboo."  
"I'm sorry..."  
"It's alright..." Altta shrugged one of her shoulders. "My parents have shared with me so many memories of him that make me feel like I've always known him....Plus I have his saber. Makes me feel close to him...Sometimes I swear I can hear his voice talking to me though it..."  
"Maybe his is.... You just need to learn how to listen..." Cal had a look of seriousness on his face. He reached and took his own saber in his hand. "...Just like I did." So Cal's Lightsaber also had a backstory. Altta waited for him to tell her but he didn't, instead clipping it back onto his belt. He took a deep breath and looked her back in her face, his smile returning. "So you know about my Psychometry but what about you, any gifts...Special talents...?" He was trying to be sarcastic but there was a hit of curiosity in his voice too. Altta looked at him from under her long lashes. "Well, I have this one thing...."  
"Oh? What is it..."  
"Nah, It's boring..."  
"Tell me. I told you about my quirk..."  
"Actually I kinda caught you and you had to tell me to not make yourself look like a creep...I have a choice here..." Cal tilted his head to the side in a come on kind of way. Altta sighed getting ready for the reaction she was sure she'd get. "Well, I have dreams...Not just any dreams but future dreams." Cal now looked confused. "...What I mean is, sometimes I dream things that actually happen."  
"You dream of the future?"  
"I dream of possible futures...Not everything is set in stone. Things can always change and that includes my dreams....I can have the same dream over and over again and sometimes even the tiniest thing can change like the colour of someones shoes or what food they might eat...What I see is the possible future that COULD happen if things continue on the path that leads towards it, understand?"  
"Yeah, I think so....Did someone teach you how to do that?"  
"No. Like your ability it's something your born with but I've never come across someone else with it. I wouldn't even know what to call this ability anyway...."  
"Sound's like your special then." Cal said making Altta blush slightly. "Anything else...?"  
"I suppose it something...I can sometimes read the thoughts and feelings of things. That is something that I was taught."  
"Really? How does it work?" Cal was genuinely curious.  
"Well it has to be a living thing and it does depend on how strong a connection I have to that living thing...All I have to do is touch it and I can feel it though me...I'm still learning to perfect it though."  
"Show me." Cal said, holding out his hand. Altta faltered for a moment. "Excuse me?"  
"Show...Me..." He said a bit slower, scooting a bit closer to her on the bed. She swallowed a lump down that had appeared in her throat and raised her hand to his face. "It works better here..." She said explaining the reason she didn't take his hand. Cal nodded and placed his hand back down and closing his eyes. Altta hesitated for a moment. The thought of touching him again after what happened yesterday had her feeling very nervous. She breathed out audibly and gently placed the tip of her middle finger against his left temple. She didn't close her eyes, instead staring at his face, her eyebrows knitting together in concentration. At first she felt nothing but then she did. She quickly pulled her hand away from him and tucked it close to her own body. Cal's eyes opened not having noticed her reaction. "Well?"  
Altta smiled nervously. "Sorry...I did say I'm still learning."  
"It's okay. Maybe it's something you can work on here on Bogano...There's a lot of friendly wildlife to practic on. Then maybe one day you can teach me.." Cal seemed excited at the idea of learning something new.  
"Sure, and in return maybe you can teach me how to do maintenance on my Lightsaber...I'm afraid I've slacked on it's upkeep a bit over the years."  
"Sounds like a deal. Speaking of deals, we have a day of cleaning ahead of us."  
"Right. I almost forgot."  
"I brought you some food. You should get it inside you before we do anything." Cal looked over his shoulder gesturing to the plate of food that was placed on the trunk at the end of the bed.  
Altta nodded and just then BD jumped on the bed and into her lap.  
"Beep be-be beep?"  
She smiled sadly at the droid, tilting her head to the side. "Sorry BD. It only works with skin on skin..." What she really meant was it only worked on things that were technically alive but she felt bad for saying so. The droid beeped sadly as he looked down at the blanket. "Besides, I don't need to read your mind to know what you'd like..." She grabbed the droid at the point where his legs met his body and gently lifted him up. She brought his head to her lips and laid a loud kiss upon it before lowing BD back down to the bed. BD beeped with joy and did a little back flip before jumping off the bed and running out of the room. Cal laughed as he followed his little friend to the door. "You just made his day... Me and BD will make a start. Eat and freshen up then come join us." He left the room, closing the door before she answered.  
Altta threw the blanket from her legs and swung them round to plant her bare feet on the floor. She padded over the cold floor to the wash basin to freshen up. She glanced at herself in the small mirror that was above the basin after splashing a bit of cold water on her face. Her outfit wasn't much but she liked it very much. It was something she had made herself out of an old dress of her mothers. It was dark gray in colour and consisted of pants, top and jacket. The pants stopped just below her knees and were skin tight. The top was made out of the top half of the dress. It was strapless and corseted which showed of her slim figure. It still looked slightly dress like with the bottom part of the top puffing out in layers like a skirt, stopping half way down her thighs. The ruffled layers were slight longer on the back coming down to rest at the back of her knees. The jacket, if you could call it that, was made out of the bit of left over material from after making the pants. The sleeves were again tight fitting but flared out with ruffles at the end and it cut off just under the line of her breasts. The front was open apart from a small clip that held the neck line together. Of course she paired it with some amazing accessories to complete it. She wore dark blue faux leather arm protectors that went all the way up to her mid arm. It was finger-less except for a small hole for her thumbs to go though. She wore a utility belt with different pouches and the clip to hold her Lightsaber. In her hair was the band she had had since her childhood which pushed her hair away from her face, apart from a small strand that she kept loose running down her temple. Her favorite part of her outfit was her boots. They were made out of the same material as her arm protectors and was the same deep blue colour. They laced up in a criss-cross pattern at the front and had a heel that was high enough to make her look elegant but short enough for her to be able to keep her balance in a fight.  
After feeling refreshed from the water and after changing her bandages to fresh ones, she went to the trunk where her food was and picked up the plate. She started scooping the food into her mouth, eating quickly. After she had finished she put on her shoes, taking her time to lace up each boot how she liked them. She decided to leave her saber behind, she was sure she wouldn't need it right now so when she was ready she left the room and went to go find Cal and BD.

\---

She found Cal and BD a little way down the hallway to a room on the right. As she got closer she could hear a lot of crashing and banging. "Be careful BD, if you pull the wrong one the whole thing will come down....No, BD not that one!" Suddenly there was a huge crash and a large puff of dust whooshed out of the door way. Altta ran to the door looking inside to find Cal under a big pile of old pots and bowls with BD standing on top of the pile looking as innocent as a newborn baby. Altta couldn't help but laugh at the image in front of her and she covered her mouth to try and hide it but it was no good, her laughs were so loud it echoed though the hallway. Cal struggled underneath all the junk but he was buried so deep with only his head, one arm and one leg poking out that he was pretty much stuck there without help. "Wha-Why are there so many pans?!" Altta asked between laughs.  
"I guess Cordova liked to collect them..." Cal struggled to break free again before giving up. "Err...A little help...?"  
She got control of her giggles and stepped into the room, carefully placing her feet between bits of pans. Coughing and waving her hand in front of her face to clear the dust from around her she got it far enough to lean over and hold out her hand to Cal. He took it and with a huge tug she manage to pry him free and drag him out of the door to the hallway, a trail of pans following him. Both turned and flinch expecting an avalanche of cooking equipment. Luckly it was only a little trickle... Straightening up, Cal brushed the dust and bits of old rust from his clothing then ran a hand though his hair, pushing it back into place trying to make himself look cool. "You know I...I meant for that to happen."  
"Oh really?" Altta had a cheeky grin on her face, her hands on her hips.  
"Yeah. It's the quickest way to clean the shelves."  
"By tearing them down?"  
"Exactly." Cal cleared his throat once and mimicked Altta's stance.  
"Uh-huh.." Altta turned back to look inside of the room, her hands still on her hips. "Well that's a lot of work just for me to have a place to sleep every now and then. You sure there isn't another, less cluttered room I can hunker down in?"  
"Actually, this IS the least cluttered room.. And it's the only other room with a bed inside...Somewhere inside..." Cal leaned forward and squinted his eyes, trying to locate the bed under everything.  
"I see...Well then.." She reached into one of the pouches on her belt and retrieved a string of old fabric from it. She reached up and tied her hair back into a messy ponytail. "...Let's get started." She reached down and started to move some of the old pots and pans to the side, stacking them neatly against the wall next to the door. With a smile at his new friend, Cal reached down and started to do the same. 

It took the better part of the morning just to clear away all the pans but they had eventually done it. Now they just needed to find a place to put them all so they weren't cluttering up the hallway. Altta was now going around the room with a rag in hand clearing away as much dust as she could while Cal was putting up some of the shelves that were salvageable. The room was much smaller than the one that she has spent the night in but it was still cozy. The bed was built into a outcrop in the wall, the entire right side pressed against the wall. There was room above for a shelve that Cal was currently attaching to the wall. At the far end of the room was a writing desk with a small stool tucked underneath and against the wall opposite the bed was a trunk to store her things in. Not that she had anything, only the cloths on her back after her own ship had blown up. "Alright. That's the last one." Cal said, spinning his drill around with a flourish and putting it in the holder on his belt having just put up the last shelve.. Altta sighed and flopped down on the bed. "It's not looking to bad. All that's left to do is to mop the floor and put clean sheets on the bed and it'll start to feel like home."  
"There should be some spare sheets in the Mantis. I'm sure Greez won't mind."  
"Thanks for your help Cal." The pair smiled at each other and BD jumped on the bed next to Altta and beeped. "And thank you too BD. We couldn't have done it without you." After the incident with the pans, BD was given the very important job of counting how many pans were in the hall. By the end of his counting he had reached a grand total of 354. Thankfully the little droid had yet to figure out he was given that job to insure that he didn't get in the way or cause any more accidents. Cal leaned his butt against the chest oppisite Altta and crossed his arms over his chest and his ankles. It was silent for a while, a thousand questions ran though Altta's mind and she couldn't hold them in anymore.  
"Cal, can I ask you something?"  
"Sure."  
"Your Lightsaber... It's not your original one, is it?"  
Cal looked sadly down at his Lightsaber then back up into the eyes of Altta. At first she wasn't sure if he was going to answer, but he did. "No. It belonged to my Master, Jaro Tapal. When he died during the Purge, he entrusted it to me. Told me to always trust in the Force..." She could almost see the memories flash in his eyes.  
"What happened to you, Cal?" She wasn't asking out of mails or curiosity, but for the feeling that he needs to tell someone to rid himself of something...He sighed, coming to sit beside her on the bed. He sat so close to her that they were touching shoulders.  
"The day the Purge happened, it started just like any other day. Master Tapal called me to training just like he did every morning. Walking though the halls to the training room I was chatting with the clones like normal. The Commander even gave me a high five..They were my friends..." He was talking as if he was back as a child. "...I don't remember how long I trained of that day, but I do remember it was one of the only times I never messed up...Afterwards Master Tapal told me we had new orders and then suddenly, the clones just turned on us. I remember feeling so confused as to why they did it...Master told me to use the service corridors and meet him at the escape pods, I lost my Lightsaber alonge the way but I knew I had to keep going....When we arrived at the pods the clones were waiting for us with an ambush. I finally managed to get the door open but it was to late...There was too many of them and Master Tapal....Master Tapal...!" Altta could hear the raw emotion building up in Cal's voice and grabbed his hand trying to calm him down. It seemed to work. "....It's my fault he died. If I had just been a better Padawan...."  
"Cal..." Altta linked her fingers with his, gripping him tightly. "...It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything any differently..." Cal nodded, as if he understood but the look on his face said he didn't. Altta stared at the side of his face focusing on the scar along his jaw. It was different than the one across his nose, this one looked more like a burn mark which only could have happened one way. Without thinking she reached up and brushed the tips of her fingers of her free hand along the line. "They did that to you, didn't they?" The thought made her angry, though she didn't know why.  
Cal nodded. "Yeah. It was only after that that I was able to pull it together and do something..."  
"Well, at least that's something else we have in common." She said smiling. Cal smiled back and Altta rested her head on his shoulder, their hands still linked. It was silent for a few moments until Cal suddenly pulled in a large breath. "I want to show you something." Without waiting for her response he stood and pulled her along with him by the hand outside.

\---

He took her to the same place outside the Vault as he had the day before but he didn't stop instead heading up the steep slope, helping her up as she struggled against the mud. When they reached the top Altta could see a thin opening, just wide enough for someone to squeeze into. "Do you think you can manage it?" Cal asked gesturing to her wound. She nodded and he slid inside, still clutching her hand and she followed as he helped her thought. Once they reached the other side Cal let got of her hand and walked further inside while Altta slowed, taking in her surroundings in amazement. The floor was covered in a thin layer of water and the room itself was circular shaped with the ceiling even rounding like a globe. In the middle was a golden plate protruding from the water which is where Cal stood. "The Holocron is in here somewhere....We just need to find how to unlock it."  
"Wow..." Was all Altta could say as she moved closer to the middle of the room. "I didn't expect it to be so big... All this space just to hold one small Holocron..?"  
"I think there's more to it than that..." Cal had moved to one of the panels on the wall. It looked like it could open somehow but how to do it was a mystery. "Just think what we could achieve if we just had that list..." Cal continued to speak, excitement running though his voice but Altta couldn't pay attention. She couldn't stop staring at the man in front of her. His passion and kindness was something she hadn't experienced in forever....It made her feel something inside her heart that she couldn't name. With her head tilted slightly and a smile on her face she watched him pace up and down the wall, his hands gesturing wildly as he spoke. Eventually he turned to her and caught her watching him. A blush creeped across his face. "What?"  
Altta shock her head. "Nothing. It's just....Your taller than I remember." It was a silly thing to say but that's really what she was thinking. Cal smiled, the blush spreading down his neck. "I'm glad to hear it....Anything else about me that's changed?" He seemed amused.  
"Your hair got more red... And less freckles..." Cal ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly. "...I like it." Altta started to walk towards him. "...When I first met you, you were a bit goofy looking, could have gone either way..." Now she was messing with him. Cal raised one of his eyebrows sarcastically. "And?"  
"Hmmm...Still 50/50..." She said making a sea-saw motion with her hand. The both laughed. Altta then felt the need to confess something. "You know, I remember when you left Coruscant for Bracca..."  
Cal knitted his eyebrows together. "You were there?"  
"Yeah. I heard that you and your Master had been given the mission on Bracca and I wanted to say goodbye. To thank you properly for your help on Ilum..." It was Altta's turn to blush. Cal just looked at her slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry...I don't remember you there..."  
"That's because I never came up to you...I saw you and I just....Just couldn't." The blush got deeper. "...I saw you with Master Tapal boarding the ship and I got this weird feeling wash over me and it stopped me from approaching you."  
"I wish you had. Would have made leaving a whole lot easier knowing I had a friend waiting for me when I got back."  
Altta smiled at the word 'friend'. They had only met a couple of times after the event on Ilum but it was nice to know that he thought that much of her even back then. "I wish I had too. I managed to get the code for the ships coms so I could write you. I must have made 30 holo-messages to you..."  
"Really? I never got any."  
"That's because I never sent them...I didn't think it was appropriate seeing as we'd only met a few times... And I wasn't sure how your Master would react to them. I didn't want to get you into trouble."  
"Yeah, I don't think he'd be too pleased..." He said rubbing the back of his neck.

The pair left the way they came but instead of going back down the hill, Altta went around the other side of the coloum. A large mountain structure surrounded the entrance to the Vault but right at the very back it opened up on a large V shape. Altta walked to the edge and gasped at the view in front of her. The landscape stretched on for miles and the horizon merged the ground and sky together. Birds flew across the cloudy but blue sky and the wind smelled fresh. It blew strongly, whipping Altta's hair across her face in a pleasant way. She made a mental note to come back here to meditate. This place radiated peace. Cal waited for her, not saying anything and with one last deep breath she joined him once more at the edge of the muddy slope. "Race you down..." Cal said as he jumped into a slide. Altta grinned and followed, keeping her legs wide enough apart for balance and skidded to a stop just after him at the bottom. "That was defiantly faster than walking..." She said, slightly out of breath from excitement.  
"If it's fun your after, I have something else to show you....If you up for it.." Once again he motioned to her bandaged stomach. Altta pouted her lips. "Cal, look at me. I'm still recovering after being shot and I've just learned that I probably now have the entire Empire after me... I am 100% up for some fun!" Her pout turned to a smile and Cal grabbed her arm dragging her towards the cliff face. He lead her to a hook of some sort which had a very long wire attached. At the other end of the wire it was attached to another hook that lead straight down to the landing pad for the Mantis.  
"We're going to slide down that?" Altta asked, a bit concerned.  
"Zip-wire...Don't worry, I do it all the time. Ready BD?" The small droid jumped from his hiding place on Cal's back and attached himself to the wire. Cal held one hand on BD's side while holding the other out to her. "Come on..." He beckoned her to come and hesitantly she did. She stood in front of him, not sure what he wanted her to do. "Put your arms around me." Altta put one of her arms around his neck and the other went around his waist as she linked her hands behind his back. "Ready?" He asked her putting his other hand on BD. Altta nodded and as he pushed off with his feet, Altta lifted hers from the ground, bending her legs at the knees and tucking them into Cal's side. The sound of a motor running and the wind brushing passed them had Altta feeling invigorated. They picked up speed and almost as soon as she felt they had just hit the air, they were landing back on their feet at the other end. Cal's hands went to her waist to help her steady her as she stumbled slightly. As soon as she had her balance back she pulled away from him, laughing loudly. "Holy-! That was incredible....Whoa!" She started jumping up and down, her arms in the air. "Hell yes! Let's do it again...!" Cal couldn't help laugh at her as did Cere who was walking up to the pair.  
"Looks like someone's on the mend." Altta started to calm down. She stopped jumping and pushed her hair out of her face. "Oh yeah...Cal's been showing me around. This place is amazing..."  
"I know. It's a shame we had to find it under such circumstances." The mood dampened slightly but Cere tried to reclaim it. "Alright children, dinner's ready...Come on." She clapped her hands and turned around walking back to the ship. Altta jumped one more time with a 'yes!' and both her and Cal followed, laughing and chatting as they went.


	4. Chapter 4

That night Altta spent it in her new room on Bogano. After dinner they had finished the last little bit of clean up the room had needed with Cere lending a hand to speed it up. Having got a good night sleep, Altta arose early with the intention of heading back to the spot she had discovered yesterday to meditate. Cere had left her some spare bandages but after removing the old ones she discovered that the wound on her side was all but healed. Luckily it had only grazed her, not gone though her but it was defiantly going to leave one hell of a scar. Before heading out Altta made the necessary patch work to her clothing. She always carried some spare patches of fabric and some thread in her belt for situations such as these. After she was done, she got dressed and headed out, taking her lightsaber with her this time. The sun was just coming up tinting the sky a dusty pink. She followed the path that Cal had showed her to get to the Vault and made her way up the muddy hill and around the back to the opening in the mountain side. She watched the horrizon for a moment before sitting down on the grass. She crossed her legs and rested her hands in her lap, face up and cupping them together. She closed her eyes and took some calming breaths. The process of Meditation was different for each Jedi and for some it took a while to relax into it. Altta sometimes had trouble concentrating enough and blocking out the noises around her but today it seemed to come swiftly and natural. Soon her mind relaxed and her surrounded changed from the grassy cliff face to a dark, starry void. Having the same outer body experience that most Jedi have when they meditate, Altta stood up and turned in a circle around her. Something was there with her, she could feel it, but she couldn't tell what it was. Noises started to echo around her...Voices it sounded like but she couldn't tell what they were saying. Almost as if by instinct Altta reached for her Lightsaber. She unhooked it from her belt and activated it, the green hue lighting up the space around her as she took up a fighting stance, ready to defend herself from anything that might attack. Something Cal had said resounded in her mind ."You just need to know how to listen"  
"Learn to listen..." Altta whispered to herself and shut off her Lightsaber, though she kept it in her hand just in case. She closed her eyes and forced herself to listen. The Echo's were getting stronger, louder and closer then all of a sudden a male voice spoke. It was still echoed but it sounded as if it was right behind her. It spoke only one word "Altta...."  
She gasped and turned but instead of seeing anything she was pulled out of her trance...Her eyes shooting open to see the sky of Bogano in front of her, the sun fully in the sky now. After getting her bearings once again Altta looked to her right and was surprised when she saw Cere sitting on a rock watching her. She smiled kindly at her. "I hope I'm not disturbing you.."  
"Not at all. I was just...Well I was trying to meditate. It's been a while...."  
"It's the same for all of us. We've been on the run from the Empire for so long that we've kind of let the important things slip..." Altta nodded in agreement. She turned on her spot on the floor to face Cere. "So Cal tells me your a Seer.."  
"A what?"   
"A Seer.... It means you have the ability to see the future. It's a very rare gift. You and Cal are two very special breed of Jedi. I expect great things from you both...And to have you both working together..."   
"It's almost like the Force wanted to bring us together..."  
"In a way, I think it did." She was talking like a true Jedi Master and Altta felt now was a good a time as any to ask her about it.  
"Cere, you said you were a Jedi...What happened?"  
Cere looked pained as if the thought actually physically hurt her. She was quite as she searched within herself to see if she could trust Altta or not. "I guess if we're to travel together you have a right to know... When the Purge happened, myself and my Padawan took refuge with some Younglings and I made a terrible mistake... I tried to lead the clone troops away, tried to buy my apprentice enough time to make it out safely with the children. But I was captured and taken to a place I never want to return to again... I was tortured for days but I refused to give them what they wanted but eventually...I did. I gave them the location of my apprentice and in a moment of weakness I turned to the Dark Side.."  
Altta's mouth hung open and her eyes filled with shock as she listened. "....But....You returned to the light...?"  
"Yes, but every day is a struggle not to give in to it... So I cut myself off from the Force. I swore to myself never to let myself lose control again and for me that means renouncing myself as a Jedi...."  
Altta looked down at the ground and nodded in understanding. "I guess I understand why that makes sense... I know the Dark Side is a very big temptation for all Jedi but others chose to go down that path knowing the consequences..." Altta struggled to get out her next line. "....Someone very close to me turned to the Dark Side..."  
"I know.." Altta looked up at Cere quickly in surprise. "...I know the person who you speak of and I'm telling you, you are nothing like him...I may no longer be a Jedi but I still can feel the Force and I sense nothing but light inside your heart. Cal will be luck to have you around."  
Altta couldn't help but smile at the mention of his name. "Cere..." The older woman looked at her. "...Just because your no longer a Jedi Master doesn't mean you should give up on the Force. You have so much knowledge and wisdom to share and me and Cal still have so much still to learn....If it's alright, I'd like to come to you if I need some advice. I believe it could help all of us to grow and move on..."  
Cere was shocked by the honesty coming from such a young person but it was logic she couldn't argue with. "Alright. Come to me about anything.....Anything." She put emphasis on the second 'anything'. The pair shared a smile when they both heard Cal's voice calling for Altta. With a gesture of her head Altta jumped to her feet and ran to meet him.

\---  
Altta slid down the muddy ramp at 100 mph, a large grin on her face. She skidded to a stop just before Cal and closed the last few feet between them with a jump. "Good morning!"   
Cal chuckled. "Good morning to you.." He handed her one of the two steaming mugs he had in his hand and she took a sip of it, humming as the warmth of the tea ran down her throat and settled in her belly. "Thank you." Altta took another sip as Cal did the same from his own mug. "So, what's the plan for today?"  
"Well I was planning on spending the morning getting some training in..."  
"That sounds like a good idea, mind if I join you?"  
"Sure, you're more than welcome to come and watch..."  
"Watch? Don't be boring Cal... Look at me. I'm all but healed up and I'm starting to get a little rusty here..."  
Cal was silent for a moment as if he was sizing up if she was telling the truth or not. He sighed. "Alright, as long as you promise not to push yourself to hard."  
"You got it!" She saluted at him which earned her a shake of his head. Cal then turned and started walking away. He lead her quite a distance from the Mantis, wall running, climbing and jumping as he went. The official training hadn't started yet but Altta had to admit that it was helping her loosen up after her couple long days of practically doing nothing. Not that she had any other choice. The terrain of Bogano didn't allow for easy access. Eventually Cal stopped, having lead them both to a flat area that resembled what could only be described at an auditorium. In a half circle, it lowered down in ridges to a small flat rounded area at the bottom. The pair stood apart from each other at the bottom, facing one another. "What do you want to start with?" Cal sounded unsure. It had been quite a while since he sparred with anyone. Altta just smiled at him and pulled her Lightsaber from her belt. She activated it and took a defensive stance. With her feet wide apart, she bent the knee pointing forward keeping the one behind her straight. She raised her saber with both hands touching one of them to her cheek and pointing the tip towards her opponent. "Show me what you got..."  
Cal smirked back at her, pulling out his own Lightsaber and activating it. Without a word, Cal suddenly lunged at her swinging his saber down onto her head. Altta blocked it with her own and pushed it away. They spent the next few minuets swinging and dodging each others attacks with Altter on the defense. Her plan was to wear Cal down enough so that he wouldn't be able to defend himself against her own attacks. When she felt that slowly happening she changed her tactics to go on the offence. With one last swing of his saber towards her left side, Altta blocked it. She held it there making it seem like she was struggling to hold it, Cal smirked thinking he had the upper hand and letting his guard down and Altta took her chance. She pushed his saber away and rolled between his legs so she was behind him then she returned his same move as earlier and brought her lightsaber down on him. He lowered to one knee, spinning on it to face her and blocking it as she had been doing. Now it was Altta's turn to smirk. "Be careful Cal...Never let your opponent get the upper hand..."  
"Who say's I was?!" He was still smirking and Altta barely had time to react as he activated a second beam from the other end of his saber. Altta jumped backwards in a cautious move. "Hey! That's not fair!"  
"Don't get distracted Altta!" Cal came at her, swinging and slicing. Of course he never would actually hit her but he was giving it his all and Altta was starting to realize that there was no way she could beat him now. She was starting to feel her energy drain and in one last move she flipped backwards away from him near the other end of the platform and as quick as a blink of an eye she used the force to pick up a rock the size of a thermo grenade and pushed it in Cal's direction. She thought that he would be able to see it coming and dodge it but instead it hit him in the face, causing him to grunt in pain and turn his head. Altta gasped and turning of her Lightsaber ran up to him. He'd turned his own off by the time she had reached him and he was cupping his jaw in his hand. "Oh my gosh! Cal I'm so sorry!"  
"Ow..." Was all he said as he turned his face back to her. Without thinking Altta cupped both his cheeks in her hand to check him for injuries. Luckly he didn't look like his was hurt that much. It hadn't broken the skin but it had left a red mark on the left hand side of his chin. Altta started giggling. She couldn't help it. "I'm.... I'm sorry Cal...I really thought you'd move out of the way..."  
"I didn't think you'd throw a rock at me...."  
"I'm really sorry..." She said again and Cal joined in with her giggles. Altta still had his face cupped in her hands and from this close up she could see all the scars that marred his face. "...Judging from all the scars I'm now questioning weather you CAN even dodge something."  
"Your not entirely wrong..."  
"Where did you get them all..?" She turned his face from side to side as she counted them all. Cal didn't seem to notice or if he did, he didn't seem to mind. He started counting them off, informing her how he got each one.  
"This one I got when some one who was working above dropped his wrench..." He pointed to the one on his right eyebrow.  
"This one happened when a crane wire snapped. The sheet of metal it was carying swung across and cut me across my face. If I hadn't been pulled back by Prauff I would have had my head taken clean off." He pointed to the one going right across his nose.  
"And this one?" Altta asked as she gently brushed her fingers over the scar the covered the bottom part of his lips. She lingered a bit to long on it and having released, she cleared her throat in embarrassment and pulled away. The pair blushed.   
"This...This one...Er.. A fellow scrapper punched me. Split my lip open..." Altta gave him a look and shrugged her shoulders, silently asking why. "...He thought I was sleeping with his girlfriend..." He looked a little ashamed to admit it.  
Altta raised an eyebrow at him and tilted her head. She couldn't see Cal doing something like that but she still needed to ask. "And were you?"  
"No!" Cal's reaction made Altta jump slightly. "I would never... I mean, I haven't even-...What I mean to say is I'm still a--" He couldn't seem to finish one sentance before starting another. Altta knew what he meant though. "So you've never...Been with someone before?" She had a very hard time believing it. Cal was a good looking young man and workers like those on Bracca work and live so closely together he must have attracted some attention. Cal shock his head as a blush spread across his cheeks. Altta smiled. "Me either...." The admission helped take away his own embarrassment and he smiled back at her. As they stood smiling at each other, Altta's eyes narrowed as she saw something over Cal's shoulder. It wasn't BD, he was back in Cal's room having a powered down moment. "What?" Cal asked her worried that it was something bad. She didn't say anything but put her finger to her lips in a shush motion. Slowly she walked around him seeing in front of her a mound of dirt by the edge, a hole in the middle of it letting her know that it was a burrow of some kind. She slowly approached the hole but stopped suddenly when a furry pair of ears, followed by an ever furrier face popped up from it. The was the first bit of wildlife Altta had seen on Bogano and she wasn't sure if it was friendly or not though looking into the big round eyes set into the creatures cute face it was hard to believe it could be anything but docile. She took one more step forward and then crouched down trying not to frighten it. "Hi there..." She spoke to the creature itself and in response it pulled more of it's body out of the hole. It's body was covered in the same fur as its body and it had tiny front legs that ended in clawed hand-like appendages. It watched her curiously, it's eyes blinking and nose twitching. "What are you little guy?"  
"It's a Bogling..." Cal answered for it as it moved up behind her. The creature retreated a little bit and Altta held her hand out to Cal to get him to stop. She motioned for him to crouch down as she was and he did so just behind her. After a while the creature sense there was no danger and re-emerged, this time fully from the hole but kept close to it. It's back legs were thin and blue, with talons poking out of its only two toes. Moving as slowly as she had been she reached out her hand towards it, beckoning it to come forward. "Its alright. You don't have to be afraid...We won't hurt you..." Altta waited for the Bogling to come to her which it did little by little. Eventually it was in touching distance but still she didn't touch it. The creature sniffed at her fingers before stepping into her reach, rubbing it's head against her hand. Altta took that as a sign that the Bogling trusted her and with a chuckle she turned her hand inwards and started to stroke it's head. "What a wonderful little thing you are..."  
"I've never seen one get this close..." Cal said in surprise but he didn't move.  
"It seems attached to you though..."  
"What do you mean?" Cal asked her confused. Now, the Bogling had stepped even closer to her, putting his front feet on her raised knee and staring up into her own eyes with it's large one. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Altta placed her hand over the top part of the Boglings head and concentrated. After a few seconds she opened her eyes again and smiled down at the Bogling. "It's been following you every since you arrived on Bogano and when it got trapped you saved it...Seems like this little guy lost all his family so he was glad of your kindness..."  
"Really? It's hard tell one Bogling from the other..." Altta smiled over her shoulder at him and took his hand, the one that didn't have a glove on. "Here...Slowly..." She placed his hand on the Boglings head and Cal sighed happily as he gave it a rub. "It's nice to see them like this....These's guys are the bottom of the food chain on Bogano, their always being hunted..."  
"Like us..." Altta said sadly, referring to the Jedi.  
"Yeah...Like us.." Cal retorted.

After they had said their goodbyes to the Bogling, they decided to head to the Mantis for some lunch. The talked as they walked. "So the next stop is Kashyyyk, huh?"  
"Yeah. The log Cordova left at the Tomb on Zeffo mentioned something about a Wookie Cheffton called Tarfful. He might have some information that could help us."  
"Tarfful was sympathetic to the Order?"  
"I'm not sure. But as far as I remember the Wookiee's were on our side during the Clone Wars and they were hit just as hard when the Empire took over so maybe...We don't really have another lead at this point."  
Cal rubbed his hand on the back of his neck as if he had something to say but didn't know how to say it.  
"Something bothering you?" Altta asked and Cal sighed. "It's just that...Cere want's to leave for Kashyyk tomorrow. I know your still recovering but if we don't go soon we may miss our opportunity-"  
"Cal.." Altta interrupted him. "It's okay, I understand. I'm more than healed enough to get going...I'd leave right now if it was up to me.."   
Cal smiled back to her in relief. "You could always stay here, you know. We could leave you some supplies...We'd only be gone a couple of days. A week at the most..."  
"And let you have all the fun? No way..."  
"Alright. We leave for Kashyyyk first thing tomorrow then." Altta nodded at him. The pair reached the ramp of the Mantis and went aboard. They were supprised to see Greez just finishing up placing plates of food on the table.   
"Wow Greez, its almost as if you read our minds." Cal walked straight to the table and sat down followed by Altta.  
"Yeah well it's like I always say... There's nothing like a good meal after a great workout..." Greez sat down the last plate and took a seat himself.  
"Oh, do a lot of exercise, do you Greez?" Altta was pulling his leg, giving Cal a sly look across from the table.  
"Not me per say... I'm more the intellectual type..."  
Cal and Altta gave each other another look and suddenly burst out laughing just as Cere came from around the corner to take her seat next to Greez. "You know Cal, it's nice to see you enjoying yourself....I don't think I've heard you laugh since we meet"  
"Hasn't been that much to laugh about..." Everyone started dishing up portions of what they wanted to eat onto their own plates.  
"You both are still so young...You should be making time to enjoy yourselves once in a while..."  
"Cere's right you know...." Greez agreed, "..You should be out having fun. That's what youth is for..."  
"17 is not that young..." It sounded as if Cal was trying to convince himself more than he was the others.   
"Are you kidding?!" Greez sounded offended by the idea. "...With everything that's been going on I sometimes forget that your still just a kid...Both of you. You need to know how to relax now and then."  
"That being said, back when the Order was still alive, the children in it didn't have much time for fun..." Cere cut into a Skazz stake and took a bite.  
"I don't think that's quite true...I always found time to have a bit of fun in between lessons. I used to love playing practical jokes on the Masters..." Altta smiled in remembrance of some of her antics when she was younger.  
"I hope you don't pull any of that crap on me..." Greez eyed her up with concern.  
"Don't worry Greez. I only pull them on people I like..really like." Altta winked at him causing him to choke on the bit of meat he was chewing on which in turn caused the others around him to laugh.  
The laughter died down and everyone ate in silence for a while. "About Kashyyyk....I've talked it though with Altta and I think we're set to go tomorrow....If you guys are ready that is." Cal said looking between Cere and Greez.  
"Are you kiddin'?! We've been ready to go since we got back from Zeffo....Just been waiting on this one here!" Geez said pointing his thumb at Altta.  
"Greez..." Cere started to scold him but Altta stopped her.  
"It's alright Cere...I understand the urgency of the situation and I appreciate you delaying it as long as you have for my sake, but I'm all but healed now. We shouldn't put it off any longer."  
"So, you'll be joining us then?" Cere raised a quizzical eyebrow.  
"Of course. I believe in rebuilding the Order just as much as any of you. Besides.... I can't let this one go alone, he's to reckless..." Altta smirked at Cal which earned her one back from him. Cere looked between the two young Jedi, clearly seeing something that no one else could. "Alright. Captain, what say you?"  
"...We set out for Kashyyyk first thing tomorrow morning...."

\----

Later that evening Cal and Altta took Cere's and Greez's advice and have a bit of fun before they got down to business again. They were both sat on Cal's bed, both with their legs crossed and facing each other. They had been playing cards for the last hour, all different sorts of games and of course, there was a bit of betting involved. Not real Credits, neither of them had any money what so ever so instead they were betting chores to be done around the Mantis. Cal had won a few hands but for the most part Altta was winning and had nearly cleared him out of things he could bet. The next game they decided on was Snap. A bit childish but they were having so much fun it just seemed appropriate. Altta shuffled the cards and halved the deck between them. "Alright, all I have left is a weeks worth of scrubbing down the cockpit, including in between all the little buttons..." Cal said as he threw down the bit of paper with the chore written across it and picking up his half of the deck. Altta smirked at him, feeling confident. "In that case, let's make it interesting...I'll bet everything I've won so far. Next winner takes all." She pushed the big pile of chore papers that she had one into the middle between them and picked up her own half.   
"I've got a good feeling about this..." Cal said as he turned his first card over and throwing it down. Altta put down her first card, then Cal again, then Altta again, then Cal, then Altta.... And so on until they were both very nearly out of cards. Just as it looked like neither of them would win, Cal flipped over a three followed by a three by Altta. They both reacted at the same time, thrusting their hands towards the pile of overturned cards but Altta was just that bit quicker. Her hand touched it first and with a loud "SNAP!" she had won the game! Cal dropped his head in his hands in shame while Altta cheered loudly, grabbing the pile of paper and throwing it in the air above her so it fell down like snow. "Yes! I told you you'd never beat me..! I never have to do any chores ever again! HA!"   
Cal shock his head at her but couldn't help but smile. "You know, if I'd had known you were going to be this evil about it, I never would have agreed to it...."  
"Don't gamble with a gambler, Cal." Altta began collecting the cards together and making sure they were all there for next time.  
"A gambler, huh? Maybe you could give Greez a run for his money...."  
"Greez gambles?" Altta asked looking at him  
"Big time. Before he took the job from Cere he fell in with a group of gangsters called the Haxion Brood...Owed them a lot of money from built up gambeling debts, plus he may have conned one of their members out of the Mantis....He's been on the run from them ever since..."  
Altta sucked in a sharp breath. "The Haxion Brood....Their a bad crowd to fall in with... Even worse to fall out with."  
"You know about them?" Cal took the deck from her and started putting it in number order.  
"Only by reputation. The planet I come from, it's owned by a gangster family called the Hutts..."  
"The whole planet?" Cal seemed supprised.  
"The majority of it...It's not that big. Anyway, the Haxion are known rivals of the Hutts although if gossip would have you believe the Hutts use their bounty hunters for their own diry work..." Altta watched his hands has he sorted the cards.  
"What's the name of the planet?"  
"Tatooine. For the most part it's largely untouched by the Empire...Just a few settlements occupied here and there. Their mainly there for recruitment..."  
"Is it your home planet?" What he meant was, was it the place that Altta came from before she was taken to Coruscant for her Jedi training.  
"No. I was born and raised on Coruscant."  
"How did you wind up there?"  
"You mean how did I survive the Purge?" Cal looked embarrassed but nodded. "Well, my mother was pregnant with her second child and she was having some complications so she was sent to Stewjon to get some rest. I was sent with her to make sure the birth went smoothly. When Order 66 happened my father was away fighting with the Clone Army. He managed to escape and get word out to us and we went into hiding until he eventual came for us and we headed to Tatooine together...We've been there ever since....I guess I got lucky." Altta couldn't meet his eyes, ashamed that she never saw the things that Cal did. She only looked up at him when she felt his hand on hers. "You don't need to feel guilty for having been safe, Altta....Never let anyone let you feel any guilty for having what was saved."  
Altta smiled gently at him. "Thanks Cal."  
"You said your mom was pregnant again. So you have siblings?"  
"No." She replied quickly but there wasn't any real emotion behind it. "My brother took his first and last breath as soon as he was born. The doctor who delivered him said it was most likely due to stress during the later stages of pregnancy...So in a way, I did lose someone in the Purge."  
"I'm sorry."  
"Don't be. I feel him around me every single day and he didn't suffer...I'm grateful to have met him at all."  
"That's a nice way to look at it."  
BD, who up until that point had been silently watching their games beeped at them to get their attention. Altta looked at him as he projected the time from his eye. "Your right BD, it is late...I should get to bed." Altta leaned down and kissed the droid on the head. "Night, BD.."  
"Bee-booo..."  
She climbed off the bed and rounded it to the other side. Without thinking she grabbed either side of Cal's head and leaned down, kissing his tufft of red hear. "Good night Cal...Get some sleep..."  
Cal, shocked and embarrassed about what she had just done, watched Altta walk to the door and leave, only wishing her a goodnight back after the door had closed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Alright everyone. Course is set for Kashyyyk. Everything set for take off?" Greez was sat in his pilot chair, going over the final checks before leaving. Cal entered the Mantis with BD on his back followed by Altta who hit the button to close the door behind her. Cere glanced at the pair with a nod from her seat at the communications dock and turned to Greez. "Seems like we're all here and accounted for. Whenever your ready Captain."  
"Okay, everyone grab some seat..." With a few more button taps and with a push of the throttle leaver the Mantis began slowly rising into the air. Cal took his usual seat on the co-pilot chair while Altta decided to take a seat on the couch surrounding the Holotable. She didn't want to push her luck by forcing herself into the cockpit when she hadn't been given a job to do so. It didn't take long before the Mantis had broken the atmosphere and was speeding though space. The stars twinkling as they passed. "I'm activating Hyperdrive in three....two....One...." With a jolt the speed of the ship hit hyperspace. The starts turning into lines of light that took on an almost tube like appearance around the ship. Now that it was in Hyperspace it was safe to walk around the ship so Altta left her seat and entered the cockpit, standing in the doorway but going no further. "Nice take off Greez..." She said with a smile.  
The Latero turned in his seat and gave her a smile. "...Best in the business..."  
"And modist too..I like it..." Greez winked at her and she turned back, her attention going to the holotable that was holding a projected image of Kashyyyk. She leaned her hands on the edge and examined it. BD jumped onto the side next to her, Altta giving the droid a little pat on the head, followed by Cal who rounded the table to stand the opposite side. "Kashyyyk is a huge planet Cal. It could take months to search all of it just to find one Wookiee....Any idea where to start?"  
"In Cordova's log he mentioned the Origin Tree. Part of the Tomb on Zeffo was made from a Wroshyr tree...I guess we'll land close to it and search the surrounding areas..." Cal sounded unsure of this plan. Clearly he hadn't really thought it through.  
"So....The plan is just to wing it and hope for the best...?"  
"Yeah...Sorta..."  
Altta sighed and turned off the holomap. She went over to the kitchen area to pour herself a drink. She didn't like not having a solid plan. She wasn't used to just 'winging it'...Back in her training her father always taught her the best thing to a mission was to make a plan and stick to it. If that plan didn't work, always have a back up plan....And a back up plan to the back up plan....It was one of the lessons she always stuck by and so far it had taken her far but now here she was, on a blind mission with a reckless Jedi padawan that had no idea what he was really doing...She took a swig of her water and glanced over her shoulder at Cal. He was talking to BD discussing things that the droid may be able to assist him with...To put his trust in such a small droid, another reckless choice but she had to admit....She trusted them both. 

"We're coming up on our destination." Greez's voice sounded over the speakers through the ship. Both Altta and Cal headed back to their original seats so they could pull out of hyperspace. As soon as they had Altta left her seat once again and made her way into the cockpit, standing behind Cal's chair.   
"Oh that's not good." Altta said as she leaned over Cal's shoulder to look out of the window. Ahead of them, orbiting the planet was a bunch of Imperial Star Ships.  
"Whoa. Tell me we're not running that blockade?" Cal said looking just as surprised as Altta.  
"Only as a last resort. I've rigged the Mantis' transponder to transmit Imperial signals." Cere started flicking switches at her station and turned to Greez. "Hey Greez...Keep your power signature low and act like we belong."  
Greez nodded at her instructions but he didn't look so confident that it would work. "Just like Bracca. No sweat." He went about punching buttons on his panel and went to reach for one above just as Cal went to do the same button. In annoyance he slapped Cal's hand away. "I don't need another set of hands. Just please keep your eyes on the scanner. Please?" Cal held his hands up in apology and mouthed an OK. Altta who was still hanging over his shoulder snorted at him being told off. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a look. Very slowly Greez eased the ship though the blockade.  
"I don't see anything." Cal said watching the scanner in front of him. So far so good. The Empire was yet to notice anything out of place.  
Cere listened to the conversations between the different Empire Ships though her headset. "They're preoccupied with something on the ground....We're clear."   
Everyone eased a sigh of relief and Greez started to lower the Mantis down towards the plannet's surface. When they broke the atmosphere and closed in on the land below everything seemed normal, green trees and clear blue lakes. That was until they got a little closer. Dotted around the landscape were plumes of black smoke all coming in from different Imperial factories. Patches of trees had been cut down, some of the lakes had been drained all to run equipment for the Empire. Ahead of them, just barely visible though the mist was a very large tree.   
"There...That's the origin tree..." Altta pointed at it though the window, Greez turned the ship slightly until it was directly in their flight path.   
"That doesn't look good." Cal commented regarding the factories.  
"The Empire is devouring Kashyyyk for it's natural resources." There was anger laced in Cere's voice. "Wookiees are being enslaved....."  
"Or displaced..." Altta finished for her. On her travels she had seen many different races being taken as forced workers but one of the worst was the Wookiees. Due to their size and numbers they were the most used for physical work. Out of nowhere two ships came speeding past the Mantis, firing as they went, startling everyone. Altta was shaken nearly off her feet, luckily Cal had quick reflexes and grabbed her arm to steady her. She gave him a nod of thanks.  
"Aren't you supposed to be watching the monitors Kid?!"   
"Guerilla fighters! Wookiees and off-worlders ambushing an Imperial convoy." Cal said now giving the monitors his full attention.  
Cere pressed her headset to her ear as she listened to the communication from down on the planet. "Walkers approaching their position." Leaning forward on the tips of her toes to get a better look, Altta could see a herd of AT-AT's walking though the body of water below them. "Tarfful could be with them!" She said hoping that she was right.  
"Tarfful could be anywhere! Like deep in the ground, like we're gonna be if we get caught up in that battle down there!" Greez was not having any of it, pointing viciously out the window as he spoke.  
Cal turned to him, pleading with him. "We don't have any other options, and....And they'll die without our help." Everyone in the cockpit looked around at each other. They were all thinking the same thing but no one wanted to actually say it...Even the realization hit Greez and he could no longer argue.  
"So what's your plan?" Cere asked.  
Cal didn't exactly look like he had one...There goes that winging it again. Finally he spoke. "Sabotage." He stood from his chair to leave the cockpit.  
"Wait, your not actually thinking of stealing one of those things?" Altta was worried and it showed in her voice.  
"We used to scrap walkers on Bracca....I'll just jack one." Yep, he was defiantly going to steal one.   
Greez laughed at him. "Get a load of the Kid! He thinks we're back in the Clone Wars."  
Altta followed him out fo the cockpit followed by Cere. "You know, I might be able to hack into their mainframe. Find the schismatics of the walker...Find you the safest way inside. Cere, anyway you could set up a secure line for me."  
"On it!" Cere went back to her terminal and started doing what she needed too. "Captain, get us near those walkers."  
Cal walked quickly towards the door, Altta hot on his tail. "Cal are you sure you should be going alone?" Cal pushed the right buttons to open the door and he turned to her with a smile. "It'll be a lot safer with just one and I'll have BD with me." The little droid beeped from over his shoulder and Altta smiled. "Besides, I'll need those plans if I'm going to get in without a problem...Meet me on the ground." He tapped her shoulder and she gave him a serious nod. He started to slowly walk down the ramp, keeping his balance despite the heavy wind. "CAL!" Altta shouted over the loud wind. He turned to her, his hands covering his eyes. "DON'T DIE!"  
He smiled at her. "I'LL ADD IT TO THE PLAN!" He turned and made it to the end of the ramp. Altta didn't shut the door until she had seen him jump and land safely into the water. She ran back to the cockpit, taking the console opposite from where Cere was sat.  
"Secure line is up..."  
"Great work Cere..." Altta put on a headset of her own and switch on the holoscreen in front of her. Using the keyboard in front of her she successfully made it into the mainframe in a matter of seconds and managed to pull up the blueprints of the AT-AT down below. "Cal...Cal do you read me?" She waited for a few seconds before she got a reply. "I hear you Altta....I've reached the walker."  
"Great. If you can reach the top there should be a hatch that drops into the back compartment. Should be the easiest way in."  
"Alright...I'll let you know when I'm inside."  
It was a few minuets until she heard from him again and when she did his voice was a whisper. "Alright, I'm inside. Where do I go now?"  
Altta tapped a few buttons to bring up the inside plans. "To the left of you there should be a speeder storage unit. If you can get in front of the speeder there should be a hatch that leads into the cargo unit. From there the cockpit should be right ahead of you. Be careful Cal, these walkers double as troop transports....Expect a fight when you get in."  
"Got it." Over the intercom Altta could hear the sound of Cal's Lightsaber being activated, Storm Troopers being surprised at Cals intrusion and then the death's of those troopers that quickly followed. She felt no pity though. She then heard the woosh of a door, the two unsuspecting drivers talking and then a crash. Looks like it was a success. With a proud smile Altta threw off her headphones and ran to the front of the cockpit to keep an eye on the walker Cal and BD had just hijacked. With a few minuets of Cal obviously trying to figure out the controls it began moving again, shooting at other AT-AT's and Imperial ground troops. Through the communication line Cere could hear the shock from them. She turned to Altta with a smile. "What ever he's doing its working.... The Imperial army is so confused it they don't know weather to shoot at it or not."  
"Atta boy, kid.." Greez said it so quite it almost wasn't heard but Altta heard it.

From the cockpit Altta could see Cal's AT-AT advance on the Imps. She watched as he took out a rival AT-AT, cheering loudly when it went down. She then watched him advance on the enemy until he reached the outpost the Guerrillas were trying to capture. "Greez, can you get us down on that landing platform?"  
"Are you kiddin? Not with that battle going on...I may be a good flyer but that's just crazy.."  
"Then just get me close enough to jump down...." At that moment Altta saw an Imperial cruse ship rise from the ground and aim it's cannons directly at Cal's AT-AT. "Oh no..." Altta watched as the AT-AT took down the ship but almost as in a last act of defiance the cruiser went down, heading directly for the walker, along with BD and Cal inside. Altta's heart felt like it stopped beating as she saw the walker topple forward and crash, head-cabin first into the ground. "Cal!" She shouted heading for the door. "Greez, get us down there now!" She hit the button to activate the door and stood in the doorway as the ship slowly descended to the landing pad. She kept her eyes glued on the AT-AT breathing a sigh of relief as she saw the hatch swing open and Cal followed by BD exit unharmed. As the Mantis neared the ground Cal was walking up with a man that Altta had never seen before but clearly he was an ally. Cal looked up and saw Altta leaning out of the door and waved to her "Hey!" Altta waved back and made her way down the ramp, jumping off the end before it had fully touched down. She walked toward Cal and the man and took Cal's arm. "That was some ride..You okay?"  
"Yeah, all in a days work." They smiled at each other and then Cal turned to the guy. "Saw Gerrera...Altta Kenobi." Saw held out his hand and Altta shock it. "Nice to met ya...So your with this crazy fool, huh?"  
"Unfortunately yes..."  
Saw turned back to Cal. "So, who are you looking for?"  
"A Wookiee Chieftan named Tarfful."  
Saw scoughed, looking between the two youngsters and kept walking. "Tarfful's impossible to find....There's a reason hes evaded the Empire for this long."  
"He's a freedome fighter?"  
"THE freedom fighter...A symbol for the Wookiee resistance, striking at the Empire from the Shadow Lands" Just then Cere and Greez appeared from the Mantis. Cal made the nesisary introductions but Saw seemed to have other things that were more important. "What do you want with Tarfful?"  
Cal looked between Altta and the others as if he was silently asking if he should tell him or not. "Jedi business."  
Saw looked confused. "The Jedi are dead."  
"Not all of them." Cere motioned her hand towards Altta and Cal, Saw noticing for the first time the Lightsabers that hang from their belts. Cal and Altta smiled at each other before looking back seriously at Saw.  
"You get that off a corpse?" The question was directed at Cal rather than both of them. It was becoming clear to Altta that Saw had a problem with strong women. She could sense the misogyny from him. It surrounded him like an aura.   
"My Master gave it to me."   
Saw nodded and continued. "This pad supports an Imperal Refinery that runs on Wookiee slave labor. Our Intel claims that some of them are Guerrilla fighters."  
"We should help them..." Altta turned to Cal. "...One of them might know how to get to Tarfful." Everyone voice their agreement.  
"We'll stay here and monitor Imperial Transmissions...With any luck we my intercept any distress calls that could be of help.."  
"'preciate it." Saw said to Cere then turn straight back to Cal. "We'll scout ahead to prepare the attack...Meet us when your ready." Saw turned to his troops and signaled them to follow, taking them though the blast doors and into the jungle. The Mantis crew all turned to face each other. Nothing was said but a lot was acknowledged. Greez threw all four arms up in despair and turned to re-enter the ship. Cere nodded encouragingly at both the Jedi and joined her captain aboard. Altta's attention went to the doors that Saw had left though. There was something not quite right with that man but she couldn't put her finger on it. Cal turned to Altta with a smile on his face. It looked like a smile of admiration to her. He tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. "You ready to get going?"  
"Y-Yeah...." The two of them started walking together towards the same door that the Guerrilla's left though. He seemed to notice that Altta's mind was on something else.  
"Something wrong?"  
"I just get a bad feeling from that guy, that's all?"  
"What do you mean? He's doing a good thing here...He's trying to liberate this planet from the Empires rule."  
"There's no denying that what he's doing is amazing but he just gives off this vibe...."  
"What vibe?" He seemed to be getting a little annoyed and it put Altta even more on edge.  
"The type of vibe that says he'd give any one of his fighters OR any of the Wookiees he's trying to save over to the Empire if it meant saving his own skin..." Altta quickened her pace racing ahead not waiting to hear Cal's answer. She didn't want him to get a God complex over this man and in a way she realised that she was a bit jealous. Cal caught up with her just as they exited the other side of the compound into the main area of the refinery. 

They made their way though it, following the directions of the freedom fighters until they met up with Saw again. They ducked behind the cover so as not to be seen by the Troopers and Saw handed Cal a zoomview. "Imperial Sap Refinery lies dead ahead." Cal cautiously looked over the barrier at the Troopers and Wookiee slaves below. "What does the Empire want with tree sap?"   
"They refine it into a powerful compound and they're rushing to expand production."  
He handed the zoomview to Altta and she took a look for herself. Watching the Storm troopers working the Wookiee's the way they were made her sick to her stomach and it took all of her will power not to jump down there and put a stop to it once and for all. But this was a situation that required tact and stealth and it seemed Saw had a plan. Even so she was forming one of her own in the back of her mind just in case. She crouched back out of view and gave the zoomview back to Saw. "We have to stop them." She aired out her thoughts.  
"That's the plan. We don't know their endgame but they've spread themselves too thin. This map proves it." Saw held out a slipchip handing it to Cal. Without a second thought BD jumped down off Cal's shoulders.   
"Beep boop?"  
Cal looked at Altta who smiled, such a cleaver and fearless droid. He leaned down and inserted it into the drive port on BD's body. "Here you go bud." BD fired up the chip and projected the holomap onto the floor in front of everyone. Saw started to point out areas on the map. "These refineries double as brutal prison camps..." Altta ground her teeth at the thought as he continued. "...We'll use the cutters to cause a distraction while you..." He placed his hand on Cal's shoulder. "...Take your Lightsaber and free the Wookiees inside. We'll need their help to stop the Empire." There it was again....It was almost as if Altta wasn't even there. She wanted to shout at him 'Hey! I'm a Jedi too, you know?!' She opened her mouth about to say something but it seemed this time Cal had picked up on the lack of instruction for her. "What about Altta?" She couldn't help but smile at her friend. He knew that she could help just as much as he could and he wanted her to have the chance to prove it. Saw looked at Altta, seemingly put out to have to find her something to do. "Well...Two sabers are better than one." He turned to speak to Altta directly. "...Go together, do what you can and watch each others back. Take this so we can stay in communication." Saw handed her one of their communication devices and she attached it to her belt. Saw then stood up and fired his grappling hook to the roof above. "Watch yourselves in there." Without another word he lifted himself in the air and disappeared over the ridge, his fighters following though the door next to them.  
Altta stood up and surveyed the area around them, routing out the best path to get to the detention area. Cal leaned forward and tapped BD-1 to get his attention. "You hear that? He said he needs my help." BD beeped in excitement for him but Altta just rolled her eyes. "Come on Hero...We should be able to get to them if we go this way."

The pair of Jedi made their way around the outside of the refinery taking out and avoiding where possible the Storm troopers in their way. For a heavy operation so important to the Empire it seemed that it wasn't that strongly fortified. It seemed way to easy. Eventually they arrived at a large hanger door that if the map that Saw gave is correct, should lead them into the building close to where they need to be. As Cal opened the door they were hit by the dreaded sound of screaming and then death. Two Partisans were fighting with the black cladded silhouette of a Purge Trooper. Well it wasn't much of a fight, more like a massacre. Cal and Altta stood feet apart from each other and both activated their Lightsabers. The Purger turned to face them and it was almost possible to see the smirk underneath his helmet. "Two Jedi. This is what I've trained for."  
Altta tilted her head to the side, a slight smirk of her own forming on her lips. "Funny. I was about to say the same thing!" It was time to get payback for the Purge Trooper kicking her ass on Zeffo. Without a second though, Altta rushed at the trooper swinger her Saber sideways towards his chest only for him to block it with his Electrostaff.   
"Altta!" Cal cried in concern before he to ran in to join the fight. The pair of them swung at the Purger, each one of their attacks being met with one from their enemy. Even with the two of them they were having a hard time bringing him down. Purge Troopers were notoriously tough opponents. Trained in special techniques the other Troopers don't get and now fighting one for real herself, Altta could see that reputation was well earned. Blocking another attack, the Trooper pushed Cal away from him, his feet skidding across the floor until he came to a stop next to Altta. Both were breathing hard and it was clear if they didn't do something to turn the battle in their favour soon, they would most certainly lose. "This guy is impossible...! How did you manage to take one down before?" She asked her male friend.  
"Well...He was kinda distracted...You know, about to kill you and all..."  
"Distracted..." Just then an idea came to her mind. "Cal, I have an idea...I'll keep his attention on me long enough for you to get behind him..." Cal understood and nodded at her. All the while the Purger was advancing on them, walking slowly as if his victory was already assured. With one last look at Cal, Altta ran toward the Trooper, her Lightsaber ready. She traded a few more blows with him before flipping away. She once again began running at the Trooper but instead of attacking with it, she switched off her Saber and slid on her back across the floor until she was underneath him, stopping in the right spot just between his legs. The purger thought that she had made a silly mistake and started lowing his Electrostaff down onto her head to finish it but in a split second Altta thrust out her hand and used the Force to slow him down enough for Cal to make his move. "Now Cal!" She strained against the Force of the energy it was taking for her to hold it and the next three things happened in a fluid motion. Cal was behind the Purge Trooper and thrusted his Lightsaber though his chest, as he pulled it back out he grabbed Altta by the ankle and pulled her away from the Troopers falling body as Altta released her grip on the Force. The enemy fell forward just where she had been in a lifeless heap. Altta breathed out a sigh of relief. "I can't believe that worked..."  
"Yeah. They may be strong but it's a good thing their not too smart...." Cal reached his hand down and offered it to her. She grasped it and he pulled her up to her feet. "...You okay?"  
"Yeah...Just hoping I never have to do that again."  
At that moment Saw's voice came over the intercom. "Continue en route! I have to make a stop."  
"Of course he does..." Altta said faining surprise.   
"Will you stop...." Cal looked at her disapprovingly. Clearly he thought Saw's kind gesture to include her was enough to secure his trust in the Guerrilla warrior. She held up her hands in defense and walked to the door, pressing the button it flashed red. Locked...Great! The hissing of steam sounded to her right and she saw the vent there open up. "I've opened the vent for you. Get going!"   
"Ever get the feeling your being used...?" Altta gestured with her hands to the vent for Cal to go first. He tutted at her and slid inside, Altta following close by.

The pair continued their way though the compound. Battling Troopers and clearing pathways for Saw and his fighters as they went. Even BD got to have a bit of fun by turning on a big saw to open a shortcut for the two Jedi...Though the droid later confessed that he just did it because he wanted to see what it did. Cal's bad influence was rubbing off on him, BD starting to show the same recklessness as his new Jedi friend. It wasn't long before they found what they were looking for. The detention hall. The room stretched out ahead of them like a long corridor with a door either end of the room and it was dark...very dark. They both walked slowly and cautiously. "I don't like this Cal...It's quite. Too quiet" Altta was ready to grab her Lightsaber at a moments notice as she circled her body to do a 180 of the room.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, isn't it strange? Why isn't their any prison guards in a prison keeping an eye on the prisoners....It is a prison..."  
"Can you please stop saying prison...The word is starting to lose all meaning." Cal spotted a terminal that hopefully would control all the cell doors and ran over to it. Altta stood in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips and her eyes cast upwards. "Prison....Prison....Prison....Yep! Your right! Lost all meaning..."   
As Cal tinkered with the buttons on the terminal, a imprisoned Wookiee got Altta's attention by calling to her. Looking to her left she saw that the cells were indented deep into the floor. She ran over to the Wookiee and crouched down seeing two more Wookiees in the cell with the first one. There was hardly any room for the three of them to stand comfortably and laying down was defiantly our of the question. Apparently the Empire used sleep deprivation as another means of torture and control. "Don't worry...We're here to get you out." She nodded at Cal to continue and stood back heading back towards the door they had entered from to keep an eye out. With both their attentions elsewhere, neither of them noticed the Security Droid coming from an hidden compartment until it was directly behind Cal. It grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar, lifting him in the air with a grunt from Cal. Altta turned quickly on her heal, drawing her Lightsaber as she did.   
"Visitation is no permitted." It sounded off in its monotone voice and threw Cal down the hall away from the controls.   
"You alright?" Altta asked him as he made it to his feet in no time.  
"Yeah, just keep an eye on the door." She nodded and turned her back once more to watch the door. BD had jumped onto her back for safety after he had been thrown off of Cal's.   
"Beep Boop?"  
"He'll be just fine...But keep an eye on him just in case.." BD beeped that it was a good idea and watched Cal in case he needed any help. Turns out he didn't need any help, making quick work of the droid and taking it down with a swing of his Saber, severing the droids top half from it's bottom half. After both halves hit the ground Cal made his way back to the terminal and hit the last button opening up all of the cell doors at once. Altta ran over to him just as all of the Wookiee's started emerging from their prisons, now free. The pair of them watched with smiles on their faces as the Wookiees reunited with loved ones and friends that, even though they could see them, clearly hadn't had contact with for an untold amount of time. One of the Wookiee's approached the two Jedi and growled something at them, then he reached forward and took Cal in his arms, giving him a hug. "Glad to help." Embarrassment in his voice.   
The Wookiee then did the same with Altta, wrapping her arms around her and lifting her from the floor "Whoah...Don't mention it..."   
The Wookiee then joined the others at the door just as they were pulled open, reveling a couple of Partisans on the other side.  
"Who's ready to fight some Imps?" A female fighter shouted, raising her rifle above her head and earning cheers and growls from the newly liberated Wookiees. The second Partisan signaled for the Wookiees to follow them and they all ran off, ready to get back in the fight for their home planet. The first turned back to Cal and Altta. "Good work you two."

They made their way yet even further into the building, freeing more Wookiees as they went. Eventually making it to the roof where he Empire was making their last stand. The last of the Storm troopers, Flame Troopers and Security Droids were battling against a faction of Guerrilla fighters. The Partisans seemed to have the upper hand but they were no match for the throwers of the Flame Troopers. The two Jedi jumped into battle and took care of the Flamers then helped dispatched the rest of the enemies. It looked as if the battle had been won but just as everyone was about to celebrate one last Imperial Troop carrier flew over head. It didn't carry back up troops as everyone would have expected but instead it dropped an AT-ST walker on the opposite side of the roof. Altta ran to Cal's side. "What's the plan?" She hoped to God that he had one....  
"Errr...."  
"Cal?!" Before he could answer her shout the walker fired on their position causing them to dodge, jumping away in opposite directions. The walker turned to concentrate it's fire on Cal and it shot a grenade at him. He rolled backwards out of it's range and then Force Pushed it back at the walker. It hit it on the leg, shaking it from side to side but it wasn't enough to knock it down. While it was concentrating on Cal, Altta was hoping she could get close enough to take it down from the inside. She ran, managing to make it to one of it's large feet but the pilot inside must have anticipated the move as he turned the walker quickly, hitting Altta and making her skid against the wall. It turned to face her completely and fired its blasters at her. As it hit the ground a cloud of dust and steam rose in the air, blocking her from view.  
"Altta!" Cal ran in anger towards the walker but before he reached it, a shadow appeared and jumped out of the dust cloud. Altta, unharmed and undeterred, jumped high up onto the walkers leg, her original intended target. She latched onto the side and climbed up towards the socket where the leg met the body. Swinging her Lightsaber she severed a pipe the connected the two. Oil spewed from the two ends and the walker began to shake as the leg began to detach itself. The pilot inside tried their best to keep it steady enough to try and carry on but it was no use. The walker toppled forward with Altta riding it down all the way, jumping off at the last second with a flip and landing in front of Cal. She looked over her shoulder with a serious look on her face at the smoldering wreckage of the AT-ST. She turned back to Cal and deactivated her Saber, attaching it to her belt. She took a few steps forward and didn't see the still alive pilot exit the head of the walker. He stumbled to his feet and raised his blaster toward her, firing one shot. She dodged the top half of her body to the side as the bolt whizzed past her towards Cal. He raised his Lightsaber just in time to reflect it back towards the pilot, it hitting it square in his chest knocking him backwards dead. He deactivated his Saber and closed the gap between them. "That was impressive..."  
Altta just looked at him though her lashes, her eyes narrowed and her breathing hard. "...I am so done with being shot at..."  
As if they had been watching from the shadows, the Partisans and the Wookiees emerged from their hiding places, crowding around Altta and Cal and cheering for them. Saw walked through the crowd and up the stairs so he could loom over everyone else. Everyone turned to him waiting for what he had to say. Cal took a few steps closer to the front of the crowd while Altta hung back. Quite frankly she couldn't care less what the so-called leader of the Partisans had to say as she was pretty sure whatever it was he was going to act like he had done all the hard work.  
"Theses have been hard years. We've lost comrades, friends, family.... To the Empire. Dark times...And yet the fire...Still burns. Hope...Still burns." She could see the older man getting himself more and more worked up by his own words. "The Jedi are not yet lost..." He gestured his hand out towards Cal and Altta. She angled her body away from him, crossing her arms across her chest but she kept her eyes on Saw. She hated any attention even more so when she felt as it she was only getting that attention because of her Religion. Saw continued as everyone turned their attention back to him. "....We are not yet lost.....Kashyyyk is not yet lost! For the cause!" Saw slammed his fist against his chest in salute. All around everyone made the same salute and cheered, throwing their fists into the air. Cal joined them and Altta looked away tutting her tongue against the roof of her mouth. She couldn't stand to watch...What a sickening display of false appreciation. The crowd despised and Saw made his way over to Cal, Altta doing the same until she was stood next to him, her arms still crossed and a frown still on her face.  
"You seen what the Empire has done to Kashyyyk. Its the same story happening all over the Galaxy. My Partisans could use a Jedi on our side." This was what the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach was trying to warn her about. Altta stepped even closer to Cal so she was pressed up against him. "I'm honored, but..." He noticed her closeness and glanced at her over her shoulder, seeing the look of concern on her features. He turned back to Saw "...We have our own mission I can't walk away from yet."   
Closing her eyes she breathed a sigh of relief. When she looked back up she noticed Saw giving her a stern look. Obviously he believed that she was the reason Cal had turned him down. He turned his attention back to Cal. "The offer stands. Keep it in mind." He saluted as he had before and turned to leave but not before giving Altta one last disapproving look. Cal turned around to face Altta, putting his hands on his hips he smiled at her. "We make a pretty good team..."  
"Yeah...Good team..." The feeling in her stomach still bothered her and the thought that Cal might take Saw up on his offer once they had gotten hold of the Holocron weighed heavily on her mind.   
"Is everything okay?" He placed one hand on Altta's shoulder.  
"What? Yeah everything's fine...Sorry, just thinking...."   
"About the fact that Tarfful isn't here?"  
"Yeah..." The lie landed in her lap and she took it. "But it might not be a whole waste, maybe one of the Wookiees here knows how to find him..."   
As if by magic they were signaled over by a Wookiee and his Partasan companion. The same lady that had greeted the freed Wookiees from lockup. Cal and Altta made their way over to them, smiling a greeting. "Cal, Altta. I'm Mari Kosan and this is Commander Choyyssyk." Choyyssyk spoke to them and they both looked at each other silently asking one another if they understood what he had just said. Wide eyed Altta shock her head slow enough that none but Cal would notice. He turned back to the Wookiee and apologied. "Err...Sorry, I'm not quite fluent."  
Luckily Mari understood and translated for them. "He say's that he'll do whatever he can to find Tarfful and vouch for you both."  
"You think he's still alive?" Cal almost sounded like he was losing his optimism on the matter. Mari smiled at him. "Have faith Cal. We'll be in touch with your ship when we have some information. For the cause."  
"Thank you both. May the Force be with you." Altta answered their groups motto with hers. Mari and Choyyssyk bowed their heads at her, showing their respect for her beliefs. Altta and Cal turned and started waking towards the speedway that would take them directly back to the Mantis.  
"So what now?" Altta asked her male companion.  
Cal raised his hands to the sky. "I don't know...Go back to Bogano and wait to see if Tarfful gets found, I guess."  
Altta giggled. "No, I was more thinking more like should we get some lunch or not? Feels like an eternity since I've tasted Greeze's cooking."  
Cal chuckled back at her. "Now that is the best plan I've heard all day..." Tapping her on the arm with the back of his hand the both jogged inside the speedway cabin and closed the door, waiting the few minuets until it reached the other end and back to the Mantis.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry this chapter is so short unlike all the others but as I was breaking up the chapters on word (I've written it as one long story without chapters so I have to go though it and decide where's best to start and end chapters) I though this was a good stopping off point as the next chapter is going to take us into another arch in the story. Hope you enjoy

It was the day after they had returned to Bogano from Kashyyyk and things had returned to a relative normality. Altta had spent the morning with Greez getting him to teach her all about how to take care of his plants and what one went with which dish best when they were used for cooking.  
"What about this one Greez?" She asked pointing at a bush inside the tereriam. It had small, zig-zag shapped purple leaves and was giving of a pleasant aroma.  
"Ahh that one is one of my favorites!" He said siding up beside her. "This is a Cianti plant. It's mainly used for sweetening up sour dishes but it can also made into a delectable tea."  
"Really?" Altta was genuinely interested. "I'd like to try it."  
"Well, why don't I show you how?"  
"You don't mind?" She really wanted to learn how to make it but she knew what these plants meant to Greez and didn't want to make a mess of them.  
"Sure, leaves grow back and it's not as if it doesn't have plenty...Pick a few off the top there."  
"How many?"  
"Well that depends on how strong you want it..."  
"Say I'm a newbie that's trying it for the first time and who would really like to keep their taste buds from exploding...?"  
Greez thought about it for a second. "....Take two..."  
Altta followed his instructions and picked two leaves from the top. She stood up and went to the bar in the kitchen where Greez was boiling some water. "Alright, just dump the leaves in the pot there." She opened the lid of the teapot and placed them inside. Greez took the hot water and poured it into the teapot with the leaves. "Kay. Should only take a couple of minuets..." Greez moved around the kitchen gathering up some cups as Altta kept an eye on the water. Greez counted down the last few seconds on his watch and poured out the tea into the cups. Altta was amazed to see that the leaves inside had turned the water slightly purple. "Wow, what a beautiful colour...." She raised the cup to her nose and took in a deep breath. "...And the smell...It's amazing."  
"Yah...Just wait until you taste it."  
"In that case, bottoms up..." She held out her cup and Greez tapped his against hers in a toast. The pair brought the cups to there lips and took a sip, almost in perfect synchronization. The taste was exquisite and made Altta hum in delight. It was sweet but also had a slight minty taste too it, something she was not expecting. She took another deep sip before speaking. "Wow Greez....I think you've just found my new favorite drink"  
"Well in that case, feel free to help yourself to it any time.?"  
"Really?"  
"Yes really.. And you can help yourself to any of the other plants if you wanna cook something. As long as you help take care of them and don't mess them up to bad, of course!" Greez said that last bit sternly as if talking to a child. Altta smiled and placed her hand on her heart. "I promise. Thanks Greez."  
A small blush spread over the Latero's cheeks as he looked away. She finished her cup and decided to pour herself another one. Greez watched her in amazement. "Don't drink to much of that...I once knew a guy that only drank this stuff and eventually his hair fell out..."  
"I won't Greez....I'm going to go meditate for a while and this is making me so relaxed I think it might help..." Altta took the cup and made her way to the door.  
"...Then again he didn't have much hair to begin with..."Greez was still telling his story but he was now more talking to himself then to Altta and besides, she was already out the door.

Rather than go to the spot behind the Vault entrance, Altta decided to climb up on the roof of the Mantis to meditate, hoping having open air all around her would help her to concentrate. She couldn't stop thinking about the voice she herd the last time she meditated and wanted to see if she could contact it again. She took her usual position; cross legged, hands in lap, palms facing upwards. She concentrated on listening to the sounds of the wildlife around her, the feel of the wind brushing against her face and soon she was in her trance. Again she opened her eyes to the void of her meditation state. It was quite which would usually be calming if it wasn't for the fact that she was looking for the voice. She waked around a bit hoping that she would eventually run into something, but no...Nothing.  
"Hello?" Her voice echoed through the void but there was no answer. "Hellllloooooo!" She called louder, cupping her hands around her mouth. There was still no answer. She sighed, hanging her head in defeat when she suddenly felt a presence behind her...The same presence as before. She turned only to see no one there but somehow the presence had moved behind her from the other side. "Hello..." She called out again, a little more frightened this time.  
"Altta..." The voice was loud and seemed to come in all directions. Unlike last time, Altta didn't get pulled out of her trance but she did flinch at the sound.   
"Who...Who are you?" The fear showed in her shaking voice.  
"Someone who has been watching you all your life....Guiding you down the right path..." Somehow this brought Altta comfort and her fear slowly disapated.   
"What do you mean, 'guiding me down the right path'? Who are you?!" She asked again a little more forceful this time.  
"Now is not yet the time...Trust your feelings Altta, they will never lead you astray. And remember...We will always be there with you."  
Suddenly an image of her mother and father were standing in front of her but something was wrong...The looks on the faces made it seem like they were in deep sadness or worse....She reached out a hand towards them, the image of her mother doing the same but just as their fingers was about to touch her mother suddenly pulled her hand away and grasped her fathers arm, the both of them looking at each other in fear before they turned to run. "Mother!....Father!"

Altta's eyes opened and she found herself back on the Mantis. He hand was outstretched just like she was in her trance state. Her head was throbbing and she brushed her hand over her forehead finding it covered in a cold sweat. She groaned and fell backwards onto her back, her arms stretched out either side of her. She watched the clouds for a while as she tried to get her head around what just happened. She was positive that her parents were safe and happy just as she had left them. What she saw was most likely a manifestation of her subconscious mind telling her that she missed them...Since she had got out on her own, even though she thought about them every day she had never really thought she missed them. But now, being around Cal and the others had shifted something in her mind and she had to admit to herself that yes....Yes she did miss them and she wished she could see them again. If only for a second...As her mind drifted she closed her eyes, almost falling asleep until a voice pulled her out of it.  
"Does Greez know your using his ship for a place to nap...?" Altta smiled as she rolled over onto her stomach to peer over the edge. Cal was stood there looking up at her with his hands on his hips, a smile on his face. She pulled herself forward a bit, her hands around the edge of the ship and rested her chin on her hands. her long hair fell over the edge one side of her head making her look like a pin up girl like the ones the boys used to paint on the side of their speeders back home.  
"He knows I'm up here if that's what you mean."  
Cal chuckled. "What are you doing up there?"  
"I WAS trying to meditate..."  
"But?" Cal could sense that it hadn't gone well. Altta sighed leaning up on her elbows. "I can't seem to concentrate...I have a million things running through my mind and it's just distracting..."  
"Want to talk about it?"  
Altta thought for a moment and answered with a question of her own, a smirk playing on her lips. "Do you want to talk about it?" She knew Cal was having trouble with his own meditation. She could sense his frustration every time she was near him when he did. He returned her smirk and signaled with his head for her to come down and join him. She got to her feet and jumped off, landing in a crouch nor far from the ship itself. Cal walked over to the edge of the platform and took a seat, dangling his feet over the edge and Altta took the same pose next to him. Cal went first, telling her about how he was slowly reconnecting himself back to the force after his connection was damaged during the Purge. He told her of all the memories of training sessions he'd had with his Master and how it had helped him to feel more like himself again. In return Altta told Cal about the voice she had been hearing and of the vision of her parents. Cal came to the same conclusion that she did, that it was purely her own mind making things up.  
"So you miss your folks, huh?" He was running a blade of grass that he had picked though his fingers. Altta watched his hands moved, unable to look anywhere else.  
"I guess that's what it is. It's strange...Up until now I never had the feeling of missing them. Being apart seemed like an inevitable part of life that I just accepted...But somewhere along the way it's become difficult not being able to see or speak to them everyday."   
"Couldn't you just go back home, pay them a visit?"  
"It's not that simple. I left to prove myself...If I go back now empty handed it would just seem like another failure."  
"Not completely empty handed..." Altta looked up in his face questioningly. "...Well, you did find me." She smiled, nudging his shoulder with hers.  
"What about you? Any family?"  
"Not that I remember. My earliest memory is being plucked right out of the orphanage as soon as they discovered my connection to the Force and being sent to the academy."  
"I'm sorry Cal.."  
"Ah don't be. I had a good life and when Master Tapal took me as his apprentice he was as good a father figure as well as a Master that I could have asked for."  
"That's good.." They both faced ahead, looking out over the horizon and was silent for a minuet or two before Cal spoke again, his voice barely a whisper. "...I just wish I could hear his voice again.."  
"Yeah..." Altta nodded in understanding, her gaze dropping to her lap. They were silent for a few more minuets when Cal suddenly jumped to his feet. "Come on, I've got something for you..."  
He held out his hand to her and she took it confused, getting to her own feet. He led her inside the Mantis and into the kitchen area. Greez was no where to be found so she amused he was probably down in the engine room tinkering with some maintenance work or in his room having a nap. He let go of her hand so he could reach up into one of the top cupboards and pulled out a glowing blue cube. He turned to Altta and she gaped at it, stepping forward and closing the tap. "A holocron!" She looked up at him from under her lashes "...It's not THE holocron, is it?"  
He chuckled. "No, it's one of Cere's old ones...Go ahead." He held it out to her and she hesitated for a moment before she took it in her own hands. She closed her eyes concentrating on gathering the Force into her palms when the box unlocked and an image appeared above it. She gasped at who she saw...It was her father.  
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen..." She listened to the rest of the recording, tears forming in her eyes as she heard her father telling any Jedi to stay away from the Temple on Couracant. By the end of it, she had two streaks of tears running down her checks. When the recording had finished she placed the box down on the table and slumped into the seat behind her. "He told me about this...When the Purge started, he sent a transmission out to warn any remaining Jedi who may have survived that it wasn't safe for them to return....He was trying to keep them safe.... And just after this he saw Anik-" She looked up at Cal who had taken a seat at the table too, watching her intently. She couldn't finish, not because she didn't want to but because she was scared too...Instead she shock her head and wiped away a stray tear. "...This was probably the last recording that was made at the Temple before it was burnt down. This is a piece of history right here. Cere must have intercepted the transmission...I can't believe she kept it all this time." Altta placed her hand on the top of the cube and rubbed with her thumb. She looked back up at her friend, feeling a warmth from his face that washed all her sadness away. "Thank you for showing me this Cal."  
"It looked like you needed it....I'm just sorry it wasn't a happier message."  
"No, it perfect...Thank you." She felt as if she couldn't say thank you enough. It had been exactly what she needed. She stood and picked up the Holocron, intending to place it back in the cupboard when Cal stopped her, taking her hands which was still holding the cube in his. "Why don't you keep it? That way you can hear your fathers voice whenever you want."  
"Won't Cere mind?"  
"I'll explain it to Cere. I'm sure she'll be okay with it as long as you keep it safe, which I know you will."  
Altta smiled at him and said 'thank you' once again. She leaned up on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on Cal's cheek before she turned with the Holocron clutched to her chest. She left the Mantis and went to her room to find a safe place for her now most treasured possession next to her Lightsaber.

That night before going to sleep Altta listened to the Holocron recording of her Father over and over again, crying more and more as she watched it. After each time she told herself 'the next time will be easier to watch' but it never was. She must have watched it close to 30 times before she decided enough was enough and put it down, climbing into bed. But sleep was almost impossible and she did something that she hadn't done since she was a child...She cried herself to sleep. And as expected it was a restless sleep until she started to dream.  
Once again she dreamed of the Jedi male overlooking the Padwans below during training, the children running up followed by the woman with the baby in her arms. Like before she was unable to see their faces due to the blurriness but she could see the colour of the two older children's hair. It was red...Flame red. The boy had a slightly darker shade and it was messy, just slightly longer than the regulation Padawan haircut. The girl's hair was bright red and was falling in waves around her face and down her back. Even in her dream state she could still feel the love that this family had for each other. The boy waved the others down the way towards the Jedi below just like before, the man and woman taking the hand of the little girl and following. She expected the dream to end right there as it did the first time she's had it but it continued. Without her knowing how, almost like the blink of an eye the scene changed. The woman stood with her back turned, around her flames burned hot and wild as the huts of the camp were set aflame. Jedi Padawans, young and old ran for their lives and Storm troopers and Purge Troopers alike took down anyone in their sights. The woman was searching frantically, calling out the names of her children though Altta couldn't understand what they were. Altta could feel the fear and panic coming from the woman she was watching. In response the woman heard the scream of one of her children and ran towards it behind one of the flaming huts. As she rounded it there stood someone with a blood red Lightsaber and wearing a uniform resembling those the Purgers wore. She tried to skid to a stop to avoid the person who she could see from the figure was male but it was too late. Before she got a chance to the enemy swung there Saber and struck down the mother, taking her head clean off.

Altta woke up with a scream, shooting up into a seated position. She was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. She bent her knees and buried her face into them, still feeling what the woman felt in her dream. She knew that this was one of those dreams that was showing her what will be if events kept going the way they were. She just didn't know the events that could trigger them....She hoped they never would. Looking at the tiny slit in the wall that acted as a window of some sort she could see that it was still dark outside, probably the early hours of the morning. She didn't really feel like staying in her room and she certainly didn't want to go back to sleep so she decided to get up and go get some fresh air. She wrapped her bed blanket around her shoulders and walked outside into the night, being careful not to wake Cal in the next room. She walked around Bogano, avoiding the areas she knew the hostile creatures were usually based. Luckily very few of the planets wildlife was nocturnal so she didn't have to avoid many areas. She walked for quite a while when she found herself at a part she hadn't been to before. She was surprised to see a seat placed near the edge of the crater but it looked inviting so she took a seat. She sat there trying to wash away the memory of her dream. As if sensing that she needed him, BD appeared beside her with a quite beep. She looked down at him and smiled. "Hi BD."  
"Beep?"  
"Can't sleep...Bad dreams"  
"Boop Beep?"  
She took a deep breath, letting it out audibly. "No it's okay, but I could do with some company." He beeped happily and sided up to her feet, leaning against her leg in a way of trying to comfort her. "I didn't wake Cal did I?" BD always powered down in his room at night and if BD had woken to her leaving she was worried that he woke as well. She didn't really want to see him right now in her state.  
She focused her gaze to the horizon in front of her. The moon shone brightly in the night sky and just covered by the thing clouds in the sky Altta could make out the outline of a mountain on the other size of the crater. Wait, mountain? Bogano had a lot of rocky clift faces but there wasn't any thing that could be considered a mountain. She squinted her eyes trying to get a better look of it. She nearly screamed when she saw it move. As it broke though the thin clouds she saw it was a massive creature. It sort of looked like a cross between a crocodile and bear. It's body was covered in a thick layer of fur but it had a scaly head and tail. It noticed Altta sitting there and moved the the edge of the crevice that separated them, leaning it's head as far as it could across towards her. She didn't feel threatened by it but she was a tiny bit scared. It was a big creature and if it decided to come over and say hi then she wouldn't have anywhere to go. "What is it?" She didn't expect an answer but BD did. "Binog...?"  
"Beep."  
Guardian of Bogano...Isn't that you?" She smiled down at the little droid who told her that Cal had said the same thing the first time he saw the Binog. BD told her a few more facts about it, the fact that it was the top of the food chain on Bogano but was in no way malicious. It never hurt the kind creatures on the planet like the Bogling's, only eating what it needed from the Bograt and Splox population. He also told her that unfortuantly this Binog could very well be the last of its kind as Eno Cordova could never find any sign that this one had a mate or offspring. "The last of it's kind? How sad." BD beeped in agreement and both turned their attention back to the Binog. Altta and Binog made eye contact and somehow Altta could not look away. It was almost as if it was trying to tell her something. It huffed at her, the breeze from it's breath reaching her even from the far gap. Without thinking Altta closed her eyes and reached out her hand towards him. She concentrated, blocking out everything else around her. It took her a few moments but she eventually started to feel something. It was a feeling like she could hear it's voice in her head but she was just reading its feelings. It told her that what BD had told her was true. It was the last of it's kind, it's mate having died during childbirth and with him not being able to rear the offspring it too passed soon after. It also told her that it was happy that he was no longer alone, that he had someone to finally talk to and that it was happy to meet -her. It tried to tell her more but keeping the connection up was taking a lot of strength and effort. This was something new to Altta, only before being able to do this though touch and even then not for very long. Soon she couldn't keep it up any more and she lowered her hand and slumped forward off the chair and onto her knees. BD was quick on the draw and jumped in front of her, pushing against her chest and away from the edge. Still feeling too weak she used her last bit of effort to fall side ways, using her hands to support her. She was starting to feel very sleepy all of a sudden and realized that there was no way she could keep her eyes open. With one last smile at BD she slumped onto her side and lost consciousness.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so not gonna lie....I struggled a lot with this one. I have so many idea's for the next chapter that it will be so easy to write but the build up in this chapter gave me a lot of writers block which is why it took so long to get it out. 
> 
> Thank you for everyone who has given me Kudos and sent me such kind and insperational messages though! I really appreaciate your feedback and knowing that people are enjoying reading this as much as I enjoy writing it is what keeps me going in getting these chapters out for you! Please keep giving me courage to keep writing and I hope you enjoy where the story of Cal and Altta is going.
> 
> Also I wanted to share this amazing video of Cal I found on Youtube with everyone. Whenever I'm feeling down about my stories, or when I need a little insperation when facing writers block I watch this video and it all comes flooding back! Absoloute credit to Millie VA on Youtube for making this video - You have created a Masterpiece and I hope to see more for Cal in the future Millie! KUDOS TO YOU MILADY!!!!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3p9NFjFys

When Altta woke up she was still in the same place as when she had passed out only now the sun was up. She still felt a bit groggy from the strain, a feeling akin to waking up with a hangover the first time she got drunk with her friends back home. She rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes trying to will them to focus. She looked around her and noticed that the Binog was gone, possibly to find some thing to eat. However there was someone there with her. She looked down at the ground from her sitting position to see the lens eyes of BD looking back up at her. "Hey..." The droid didn't speak, just tilled his head at her. "Did you stay here all night?" Again he didn't answer, just bounced his head up and down in a semblance of a nod. She was surprised at that. She was sure that he would have gone and woken up Cal to help but he must have sensed that that was something that she didn't want so instead he just watched over her all night. She smiled at him and tapped his head, leaning down to kiss the top gently. "Thanks buddy."  
Standing slowly Altta made her way back to the underground abode with the intention of sneaking back inside. She didn't know what time it was but she hoped that it was early enough that Cal wouldn't be awake or at the very least that it was late enough that he WAS awake and had left to train. Luck was not on her side. She entered the door and down the stair case and just as she stepped into the hallway that lead to the rooms Cal was walking in the opposite direction. He strode towards her at a quick pace, his hands open at his sides and his shoulders tense. Clearly he had been looking for her. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you every where."  
Altta pulled the blanket that was still over her shoulders more tightly. "Sorry. I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk." It was true...She just didn't disclose that she went for that walk in the middle of the night and then passed out after using the Force on a giant creature. Cal sighed, physically relaxing and placed his hands on his hips. "Well alright. Just remember it can still be dangerous out there. Though I see you had the best bodyguard in the business." He looked down and smiled at BD who was stood by Altta's feet. "Just next time take your Lightsaber...Keep me from worrying."  
"Sure. Sorry."  
"Greez wants to see us. Come on." He brushed passed her to the stairs in his usual fast walk. Altta looked down at herself and released that one; she didn't have any shoes on and 2; she was a mess from sleeping in the wet grass for half the night. "Err, I just need a few minuets. Meet you there?"  
"I'll tell him not to start without you." He gave her one of those gorgeous half smiles of his and continued on his way. Altta looked down at BD who had stayed with her. "Any idea what that's about?"  
He beeped his 'no' and she shrugged, heading into her room to get ready for the day.

10 minuets later she was walking into the Mantis to find everyone gathered on the couch in the living space. Cere was looking hopeful, Cal was looking impatient, tapping his foot on the ground and Greez was looking nervous, his eyes cast down like he couldn't bare to look anyone in the face. She took her place at the edge of the couch next to Cal. BD jumped off her back and onto the table in front so he could get a look at everyone. BD liked to be part of things and didn't like to feel left out. For a droid he had very human traits. "Alright Greez, now that we're all here what is this all about?" Cere asked in her motherly tone.  
"Well Err...It's like this...." Greez looked at each individual face of his crew mates. All eyes were on him as they waited for his reply. "....We're almost outta food..." Everyone looked at each other in confusion. This wasn't a big deal. It had happened before and there had been a simple solution to it.   
"So? We can just go to the market on Solano and resupply." Altta said as she looked at the Latero.  
"Didn't we do that last month?" Cal turned to Cere as she was the one who had gone with Greez himself.  
"Yes we did and we shouldn't have run out so soon. But I guess if that's the case then we will just have to make another run.."  
"Err...No can do..." Everyone turned there attention back to Greez.   
"And why not?" Cere asked, folding her arms.  
Greez seemed very reluctant to answer but eventually he did. Sighing he sagged his shoulders, his whole body slumpping forward with his eyes cast down to the floor. His voice was barely a whisper "....Because we're out of credits..."  
"WHAT?!" All three other crew members shouted at the same time.  
"What do you mean we're out of credits? When we went to Solano the last time I gave you just enough so you could stock up on food and parts for the Mantis while I got the medical supplies. What happened to that money Greez?"  
The Latero male turned to Cere, shame in his eyes. "I lost it....In a card game..."  
"Gambling? Jeez Greez I thought you were done with that...." Cal leaned backwards, his arm slung over the back of the sofa. Clearly he was trying to remain calm.  
"That was nearly 8000 credits Greez, that should have lasted us another 6 months...And your telling me you lost it all?!" Cere was struggling with the same thing Cal was.  
"Well you know....I went into the scrap dealers to try and barter for parts and the guy told me he'd give them to me if I won at cards...Just a friendly wager...I was coerced!" Altta chuckled in disbelief. She really couldn't believe that he was trying to talk his way out of it. "Not so friendly apparently...Please tell me that's all Greez, that you lost the money and that's all...Tell me you didn't try to win it back and wager something stupid like the Mantis...Or our Lightsaber crystals?" Altta gestured between her and Cal who was looking up at the ceiling, not being able to look anyone in the eye in fear that he might explode.  
"No! No, nothing like that..." Everyone breathed a sight of relief. "...But...." And here it was. Everyone tensed up again. "....I still owe him another 5000 credits..."  
That was it. Cal couldn't take anymore. "Damn it Greez..." With that he stood from the couch and stormed out of the Mantis, not even looking back. Altta leaned forward, covering her face with her hands. Could things get any worse.  
Cere stood and paced for a few moments before turning to Greez and pointing an angry finger at him. "...Well you better find a way to pay off that debt AND find us some food...I told you the last time that that WAS the last time, that I wouldn't help you again...Well I'm done helping you. Figure it out!" With that she too stormed out heading to her room at the back of the ship. Now that Altta and Greez was alone the atmosphere was a little lighter. While Altta was angry she didn't see the point of leaving. That wouldn't solve anything. She still kept her face in her hands, not wanting to look up and see the hurt and pain that she knew was on Greez's face. She only looked up when he spoke to her. "I'm sorry Altta...I really am...I have a problem and I don't know how to stop...If you knew the things I went though in my past-"  
"The things you went through?!" Now she stood. She still didn't want to leave but unable to hide her anger any more. "...Do you even know what that boy out there went through?! The life of a Jedi Padawan is hard enough but Cal was still just a child when he had to watch the only family he had turn against him and kill the one person who truly cared for him! Then he had to hide out on that godforsaken planet with the risk of being exposed and killed...Or worse! Bracca is a dangerous place for adults, dozens die every day, but for a child to have to do that to survive...I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like. And even now, he's learning things about himself and things happening around him that would give people like you and me nightmares for weeks... And never once have I heard him say that it's too hard and blame it on his past...Not once Greez!" Altta only stopped shouting when she saw a tear roll down his cheek. She took a deep breath to calm herself and took a seat next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Greez...We should be helping you, not shouting at you."  
"No...No I think I needed that..." He reached up with one of his four hands and tapped her own hand, giving her a sad but genuine smile. "...Thank you...Your right. What I've been through is nothing compared to the kid...Or Cere...Or you..." Altta smiled back at him. For once it was nice for her hardships over the years to be acknowledge. They were silent for a while, both not sure really what to say. "....I do have a plan you know..." Altta looked at Greez with a raised eyebrow.....This can't be good.

Altta found Cal by the Vault sitting in the grass and staring out into the distance. BD had stayed behind with Altta when everyone else had left and she had asked him to stay behind now to keep an eye on Greez. She walked up slowly and sat beside him. If he had noticed her before then he hasn't let her know. He hand one leg bent with his wrist resting on his knee. With his other hand he picked up small rocks and blades of grass and threw them over the cliff edge. She watched his face for a while, not wanting to interrupt anything that might be going on in his head. "Greez is broken....He really is sorry..."  
"Don't care..." He threw another stone, harder this time.  
"Yes you do..." Altta slipped her arm around Cal's and hugged her self closer to him. "...You're a lot of things Cal Kestis but cruel is not one of them."  
He soughed, still not looking at her. "..He promised us that his gambling wouldn't come back to bite us...He lied..."  
"He didn't lie...But we all have weaknesses and sometimes those weaknesses can come out stronger than our strengths....No body is perfect." Cal still didn't look at her and she wasn't sure what to say to get him to understand. She rested her chin on his shoulder and watched his face. "...He has a plan, you know..?" She had a small smile on her face as she watched his eyes twitch in interest. He finally looked at her. "What kind of plan?"  
"The dangerous kind.." She narrowed her eyes but kept her tone light. He chuckled and looked away once again. "...I don't know.."  
"Aww come on...Don't you trust me?" He turned to her again, that half smile tugging at his lips. "With my life..." Those three words took her off balance and she couldn't remember what she was talking about. Being so close to him, touching him the way she was, she felt some emotion hidden in his words. She suddenly had the strong urge to kiss him and with them being so close, nose to nose almost, it wouldn't have taken much effort. Instead she regained her composure and smiled at him, burying her face in his shoulder. "...Thank you...You have no idea what that means to me." No one had told her that they trusted her. At least not anyone who could literally die if the scenario arose. She shuffled closer to him, wrapping her arm tighter around him and grabbing onto his sleeve with her other arm. Cal leaned his cheek against the top of her head and that's how they stayed for what seemed like hours...But it could only have been a few minutes because eventually curiosity got the better of Cal and he asked her..."So what's the plan?"  
"What plan..?" She looked up at him to see him looking back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, that plan..." She cleared her throat with some small amount of embarrassment and straightened up though she still kept a grip on his arm. "Well, Greez and Cere made some contacts from all the cantina's they went too and one of them just so happens to be a Bounty Hunter...Contacted Greez with some jobs..."  
"Bounty work...? I don't know..." He screwed up his face in annoyance.  
"Come on Cal, it'll be easy work for us... In and out."  
"Exactly...Work for us..."  
Altta sighed. "It's 10,000 credit's Cal...10,000! That's enough to pay of Greez's debt, stock up on supplies for six months and have enough left over to treat ourselves.." She bit her lip in a sneaky way and jiggled her shoulders in a little dance. If she had to be honest she was hoping to get some credits together to buy herself some things. Since she joined the crew the only possessions she owned was what she had on her. Cere had loaned her a couple of outfit she could use when her normal clothes needed a wash so she would like to be able to buy her own...Enough to buy herself a hairbrush would be nice.  
Cal thought over what she had said and answered with a smile."Okay...So give me the details.."  
"Well we don't know yet...Greez is contacting his, well, contact now to find them out...Shall we go see if he's done?"  
Cal nodded and stood up, taking her hand in his and walking back to the Mantis hand in hand.

When they arrived back Greez was just turning off the holo-table and cutting off the transmission. He turned to see Cal and Altta standing behind him. He met Cal's eyes with shame in his. "I'm....I'm sorry...."  
Cal didn't answer right away until Altta tugged on his hand that was still in hers. "It's okay Greez....And I'm sorry for the way I acted. It was wrong of me just to walk away rather than hearing you out."  
"It was no more than I deserved. But....Thanks Kid..." The pair shared an awkward smile easing the tension between the two of them.  
"So what's the news Greez?" Altta asked getting down to business.  
"Huh? Oh well he said he was going to send me the information.." Just at that moment the holotable pinged with the incoming data. Altta let go of Cal's hand and went over to the table, clicking a few buttons to bring up the info. She started reading them out loud. "Okay, target is named Jinklo Chuka, he's a Ardennian. He's wanted for drug and people trafficking by every judicial system on almost every planet." She turned her head to look over her shoulder. "Cal, this guy's a big time criminal..." Cal was still stood in the same spot with his hands on his hips. "Well all the better that we take him off the streets. Does it say where we can find him?"  
Altta turned back and pressed a few more buttons. "Err, says here he owns his own nightclub that doubles as the center of his criminal enterprise on..." She pressed one more button and then froze. Cal noticed the tensing of her shoulders. A combination of fear and sadness washing over her face.  
"On where, Altta?"  
She placed her hands flat on the table and again looked over her shoulder at Cal. "....On Coruscant...."  
Cal's hands dropped from his hips and his face began to mimic the same emotions as Altta. She walked away from the table, past Cal and into the open doorway of the Mantis. The sudden urge to run away from this place completely was so strong. Greez looked between the pair confused, all four of his arms showing his confusion as their palms turned upward. "What? What's wrong with Corusant?"  
Neither of the Jedi turned to look at him, afraid it would betray the emotions they felt. Cal did answer though. "It's where we were born Greez...It's our home..."  
"It's also the home of the Jedi Council Temple and where they began their training." Cere said as she walked into the room. As always knew exactly what was going on around he without actually being there to see them play out. She may have cut herself off from the Force but every now and again the Jedi Master that she was peaked through.  
"Oh...I see..." Greez sat down on the couch defeated. Clearly he was under the assumption that they wouldn't take the job now due to this fact.  
"Aren't we forgetting the most important detail?" Everyone turned to look at Altta who still had her back turned to them as she looked out of the door. "...It's also the home of the Emperor..." The look of realization crossed over everyone's faces. It would seem that they had forgotten about that. When he wasn't off watching the destruction of innocent peoples home worlds, that's where he could usually be found.  
Cal was the first one to move, walking towards the holotable to delete all the data. "Walking into the clutches of the very people who nearly wiped us out? No thank you.."  
Before he could reach it, Altta moved fast, passing him to the table and pressing the button to accept the job taking the chip that it spit out with the details they had just reviewed and putting it in one of her pouches. She turned to Cal who was watching her open mouthed. "Greez, how much food do we have?"  
Greez hesitated for a moment and then put his finger against his chin as he did the calculations in his head. "Well if we ration it.... Enough for about three days..."  
"And how long would it take to make it to Coruscant from here?"  
"....Three days..."  
"So either way we're in a bad situation..."  
"...Altta..." Cal's voice was gentle as he tilted his head to the side. Altta walked to him her eyes wide unable to hide her feelings. "We have to Cal...We have to..." He understood what she meant. They needed the credits, sure, but it was deeper than than that...They needed to go their to face their pasts. They wouldn't be able to move on if they didn't. Cal nodded at her then turned to Cere almost like he was asking for permission.  
"It's up to you two, but we will be there to support you no matter what you decide."  
Cal turned his attention back to Altta. "Alright...If we work together we can get it done....In and out..." Altta nodded agreeing with his plan. "....And besides, it'll be the last thing the Empire expects....Hiding in plain sight." He smiled at Altta who smiled back, but it was a weak smile. Truth be told, she was terrified. She turned to Greez. "Captain, set a course for Coruscant."  
"Aye aye!" He smiled and went the cockpit to start his preparations. Cere grabbed her blaster from where she kept it in the locked cupboard in the kitchen area and made her way to the door. "I'll go hunt some Bograts. I know their not the nicest thing to eat but it's worth having a bit of extra meat on board just in case."  
"Good thinking! If worse comes to worse I can make a mean Bograt stew with the right herbs!" Greez shouted from the pilots seat. Cere left and that left Cal and Altta alone in the living area.   
"Are you sure about this?"   
Altta looked up at him and tried the best to put on a smile. "Yeah. As long as we stick together we'll be fine." She balled her fist and hit in playfully on his chest. She then rounded him and made her way to the room at the back of the ship.

Cal found Altta at the work bench in the engine room. She had her back turned to him and was leaning over the table. As he got closer he could hear sniffling coming from her direction. He decided not to go too far in, leaning his shoulder against the door frame and crossing his arms over his chest. "Altta?"  
She jumped slightly as he called her name and she grabbed things around her on the table to make it look like she was busy. She sniffed one last time and wiped away the small tears from her face. "I'm fine. Just thought I'd do some maintenance on my Lightsaber before we get there...You know, just in case..."  
Cal didn't believe it for one second. For starters she once admitted to him that she didn't know what she was doing when it came to taking care of her Saber. Not only that he could feel the emotions oozing off of her.  
"You know, it's okay to feel whatever your feeling..."  
"I don't know what I'm feeling.." She sighed, putting down what she had in her hands and laying them flat on the table. "...I have so many feelings buzzing around in my brain that I don't know which one to concentrate on. Fear. Anger. Sadness. Joy...Who would have thought that one little word could invoc such strong emotions."  
Cal walked up behind her, getting as close as he could and put his hands gently on her shoulders. "Its our home Cal. It's where we were born...Where we grew up. And....It's where we said goodbye for the first time."  
"Well, technically we never actually said goodbye..." Altta couldn't help but smile slightly. She dug her elbow into his stomach behind her gently in a joking gesture. Then it turned serious again. Cal's hands had begun to rub themselves slowly over her shoulders. "I know it's difficult Altta. As Jedi we're told to be mindful of our feelings. That they can betray us. But on the other hand we're also told to trust in them...You just have to find the balance and not get lost in them."  
"But we're not Jedi anymore. Not like that anyway....With the Order all but gone, who's going to be there to enforce those rules..." She turned around. His hands were still on her shoulders and she slipped her fingers in the gap between his safety vest and his shirt. "...We don't have to hide our feelings anymore..." She pulled herself closer to him. "...Feelings like attraction..."  
Cal looked down at her, something akin to lust in his eyes. "Attraction, huh?...What gave you that idea."  
"It's kinda obvious...Besides I have a bit of a confession..."  
"Oh yeah? What would that be...?" Cal didn't give Altta time to answer. For the second time that day the urge to kiss him was strong and it seemed as if Cal also had the same urge. One of his hands left her shoulder and slid up her neck to cup at her cheek. The two slowly leaned into each other, their lips inching closer and closer and then...  
"Hey kids! Cere's back so when your ready we can get goi----" Greez trailed off as he saw what was happening. "...Am I interrupting something?"  
Altta pulled back a bit with a blush on her face, looking down at their feet. Cal rolled his eyes but didn't turn to look at the Captain. "Yeah Greez...Just a little bit..."  
"Oh. Well I just wanted to let you know that we're ready to get going when you are."  
"We're ready Greez." It was obvious that Cal wanted to get rid of him as quickly as he could.  
"Alright. Setting course for Coruscant....Oh I also made tea if anyone wants any..."  
"Still interrupting Greez..."  
"Got it!" The Latero turned and left.  
"We really need a door to this room." As much as Altta wanted to kiss the red haired male in front of her, the moment had gone. With a clearing of her throat she turned back to the workbench and fiddled with her Lightsaber in the stand. Cal read as much and didn't push her. Instead he sided up beside her intending to help. "So what are we working on here?"  
"Well, the Switch is sticking a bit when I activate it and I came in here with the intention of fixing it but then I remembered that I have no idea what I'm doing...." She scratched her head and pursed her lips making Cal chuckle.  
"How did you survive before?"  
"Well my Dad did most of the maintenance work. Will you help me please." She gave him the puppy dog eyes which earned her another chuckle.  
"Sure. I made a promise I would, didn't I?"  
For the next few hours Cal helped her fix her switch and showed her a thing or two on how to maintain and keep her Lightsaber in a good condition. He was a natural teacher and it put her at ease.

The next two days passed with the crew trying not to be at each others throats over food. Greez was right, his Bograt stew was one of the best that any of them had ever tasted but when one meal was enough for breakfast, lunch and dinner for four people then it started to get boring very quickly. In that time Cal gave Altta lessons on Lightsaber up-keep and she tried her best to teach him how to read the mind/emotions of others. He was slowly getting it just as she was beginning to understand how to take her Saber apart and put it back together...though she still needed Cal there just in case she missed something. At this moment in time Cal was meditating in the corner and Altta was sat on the lower bunk reading a book. She had managed to find one tucked away in one of the cupboards. It was all about plants but she had to admit it was an interesting read. She looked up when she heard Cal gasp, pulling out of his meditation. She put her book down and scooted to the edge of the bunk, leaning closer to him. "You okay Cal?"  
He was taking some deep breaths to calm himself down. "Yeah, just...Memories. Some times makes it difficult to concentrate." He didn't get up from his spot on the floor but Altta joined him. She slid off the bunk and knelled down next to him, facing the wall. "Maybe we could try it together?" He turned his head to look at her. "I remember reading in the Archives one time that some Jedi found it easier to meditate when they had someone to meditate with.."  
He shrugged his shoulders. "Couldn't be any worse I suppose..." Altta took that as a yes and got comfortable as she could on her knees. She didn't normally meditate like this but it was the way Cal did it and she wanted him to be comfortable more than herself. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths and held out her right hands. Cal looked at it for a moment before taking it in his. He too closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on his breathing. Through their linked hands Altta could feel the fear and uneasiness that Cal was experiencing. In return she tried to project the calmness and relaxation she felt into him. Soon they were both in their own respected trances...At least, that's what Altta first thought. When she looked around she wasn't in her usual black surrounding. Instead she found herself in a training room on a star ship. She had no idea what was going on.   
"Padawan...It's time for instruction.." She turned and looked up at the viewing window above her. Looking down at her was a male Lasat. She recognized him but she couldn't remember where and when she had meet him.  
"Yes Master." She gasped at the voice beside her. She turned her head quickly and saw a smaller, younger Cal. He was wearing Jedi robes just like the first time she had met him. Which would mean the Jedi Master above them must be Jaro Tapal. This was defiantly not her own meditated state but she couldn't understand why she was seeing it. She watched as Cal went though his day of training. Running up walls, jumping, climbing... Once or twice she tried calling out to him but he didn't answer. It was begining to become clear that neither of them could see or hear her. Just as Cal finished by reaching the doorway of where Jaro was, the scene changed. Now she was standing in and escape pod, down on the floor was Master Tapal, covered in wounds and Cal leaning over him. "This… war is not over, my Padawan. Hold the line. Wait for the Jedi Council's signal. Remember… Trust only… In the Force." She watched in horror, tears threatening to spill from her eyes as Jaro Tapal breathed his last. Young Cal jumped into a nearby chair, grasping his Master's Lightsaber to his chest and screamed as the escape pod hurrtled towards the planet below them and towards Cal's new life on Bracca...  
Then the trance was over. The both of them pulled away from each other with a gasp, staring wide eyed at each other. "Did you....Did you see that?" All Altta could do was nod in acknowledgement. Cal ran his hands though his hair as he tried to regain his composure. "H-how...I mean..." It was hard for him to imagine. Hard for Altta to as well but she had felt a shift in her ability since arriving on Bogano. She looked down at her hand in amazement. "I think...We connected though my ability... Through the Force..."  
"What do you mean?"  
Altta shifted back onto her knees until she was upright again. "Well, do you remember when I told you that I have the slight ability to read peoples feelings by touching them?" Cal nodded. "Well I think it's evolving somehow..."  
"Evolving how."  
She rubbed her fingers over her chin. She didn't really know how to put it and she was worried about Cal's reaction about what she was about to tell him. "Okay, so the other morning when I told you I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk, well I wasn't completely honest. I couldn't sleep so I did go for a walk but it was in the middle of the night....?  
Cal shrugged. "That's alright, I don't see why you had to lie about that..."  
"Because of what happened."  
"What happened?" Cal looked worried.  
"I ran into this huge creature...I think it was called a Binog and while I was sat there watching it this strange feeling washed over me. Like it was compelling me to touch it. I held out my hand to it and even though I couldn't actually touch it, through it I felt it. But it was different than just reading it's feelings. It was actually talking to me through the Force! After we disconnected I passed out until morning"  
"You mean, like you could read its mind?"  
"Sort of. But I could only see and hear what it wanted me to hear. Do you understand?"  
"Yeah...Yeah I think so. So you think that's what happened here? You read my mind, because that's exactly what I was thinking about."   
"I guess so but I don't think you meant for me to see that."  
"No but maybe I was subconsciously opening up to you.."  
"Or our connection was stronger because we were touching.." She glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye. "Speaking of touching, there's another thing I haven't been honest about." Cal turned his full attention on her. "That night when you asked me to read your feelings and I told you that I felt nothing...I lied. I did feel something, I felt the attraction you had towards me." Cal blushed remembering their near kiss the other day. "I felt something else too...Pain and guilt. Not the physical kind of pain but the kind of pain that hurts here and here." She placed her fingers on his forehead and heart respectively. Cal's eyes turned serious. "What I saw, is that why you feel guilty?"   
Cal sighed, turning and sitting back against the wall. His knees bent and his hands linked on top of them. Altta joined him. "When the Purge happened, I panicked. I did everything wrong..."  
"Cal, what happened was not your fault."  
"Yes it was. If I had just acted sooner Master Tapal would still be alive...It's my fault he died." Cal had his eyes closed and his head cast down. Altta reached up and tucked her fingers under his chin, turning his head to face her. "Listen to me Cal Kestis...It was not your fault. There was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened and I'm positive Master Tapal wouldn't want you wallowing in self pitty. He told you to trust in the Force and that's all you need."   
Cal grabbed her hand from his chin and brought it to his lips where he kissed the palm of it. He then held it close to his chest like a child needing the safety of their blanket and that's how they stayed until it was time to tuck in for the night. In the morning they would be at Coruscant and they would need to be in their best frame of mind.

Altta dreamed again that night but this time the dream with the family was much clearer. The children's faces were as clear as day and they looked so familiar though she couldn't put her finger on why. The second part of the dream, the part where the woman died never happened again but she still felt an uneasiness about it. She woke to the sound of Greez's voice over the intercom. "Rise and shine kids! We should be arriving at Coruscant within the hour...Come and grab some of the delicious breakfast old Greez made just for you!"  
Altta sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bunk and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Please tell me it's not Bograt Stew again..."  
Cal jumped down from his bunk above her and stretched his arms above his head. "If it is, your eating my portion..."  
She stood and the pair walked out to the kitchen together. "...If it is I'm shoving it down Greez's throat...."  
Cal chuckled to himself. As they reached the dinning table they were pleasantly surprised. Greez was at the grill and Cere placed two plates down on the ready made spaces. She had a friendly smile on her face as she looked at the shocked faces of the two Jedi. The dishes in front of them were definitely not Bograt...Instead they were loaded with eggs, breakfast meat, mushrooms and a side of toast.  
"What's all this?" Altta asked, gesturing to the table.  
"Well, we figured you'd need a good breakfast before your mission so Greez and I agreed to save the last of the regular food for the both of you." Cere gave Greez a look that let the two younger ones know that it was his idea. Still trying to make up for his mistake. Greez looked over his shoulder and spoke. "Yeah, so grab some seat already...The pancakes are ready..."  
Both Cal and Altta took their seats and breathed in the delicious smell of the food. "Pancakes too? What are you going to eat?" Clearly Cal felt guilty about eating all this food if it meant his crew mates could possibly go without. Altta on the other hand was so pleased that it wasn't anything Bograt related that she had already taken a bit bite of her toast. Cal gave her a disapproving look and she just shrugged it off. Cere joined them at the table, a pot of tea in her hand and she began to pour everyone a cup. "Oh don't worry about us...we have plenty of Bograt stew left over...Greez made enough to feed an army. Altta nearly gagged at the mention of the stew again but she managed to swallow the last bite of her toast without a problem. Greez walked over to the table, taking a seat himself after placing down a plate of a large stack of pancakes. "Yeah don't worry about us. Eat away....Besides, as soon as we get paid the first thing I'm gonna do is get a pass the the first all you can eat buffet at the best pace in town...." Everyone gave Greez a look of disbelief and he had the grace to look sheepish about it. The two Jedi ate in silence, not because they had nothing to talk about but because they were enjoying their food so much. Cal was only half way through his breakfast by the time Altta had finished hers. She sat back in her chair with a satisfied sigh and patted her full belly. "Wow, that was amazing! Thanks Greez!"   
Greez stood from his place and began to clear away her plates. "Glad some one appreciates my cooking."  
"We all appreciate it Greez, we just wish you'd change your menu once in a while..." Cere poured Altta another mug of tea which she took and gulped down. Cal looked at her in shock, his fork halfway to his mouth. "Where do you put it all, Altta?"  
"Wouldn't you like to know..." Altta smiled seductively at him and gave him a wink. Cal smirked back and then placed the fork in his mouth finally.   
After everyone was finished with their meals and drinks it was time to get on with the mission of the day. Greez made his way into the cockpit to get ready for the upcoming approach and landing while Cal, Altta and Cere made their way to the holotable to go over the plan. As she was making her way down the few steps towards the table, Altta heard a noise from above. She looked up and was shocked to see a Bogling in the air vent built into the wall, a pair of big eyes gazing back down at her. She grabbed the back of Cal's collar and pulled him backwards so she could whisper in his ear. "Cal, I think we have a stowaway."  
"What?" Cal looked at her confused and she pointed up towards the vent. Cal smiled and whispered back. "Yeah I know...He's the one I rescue. I'm surprised you haven't noticed him, hes been there the whole time."  
"Huh? Guess my senses have dulled...."  
"Just don't tell Greez, alright? Who know's what he'd do it he found out he was here."  
"Your secret is safe with me." Altta put her finger against her lips in emphasis. The pair made there way over to the table where Cere was pulling up the information for review. From his place in the cockpit Greez sniffed the air loudly. "Jeez there's that smell again. I tell yeah, when we get back to Bogano I'm gonna give this ship a thorough clean...it smells like the under arm of a Hutt in here..."  
Cal and Altta gave each other a knowing look and sat on the couch. "Alright, so here's the plan." Cere turned to the two Jedi with seriousness written all over her face. "When we arrive on Coruscant we'll split up into two teams and search the city."  
"We know where his club is, shouldn't we just go straight there and get it over with?" Cal obviously didn't want to be on his home planet any longer than needed but Cere countered with wisdom.  
"It would be best to gather as much information about him as we can. There is always a possibility that we get in and he's not even there. If he gets any inclination that he's being hunted then it would all be for naught anyway. But if we know an exact time that he'll be there then we can take him by surprise." Everyone nodded in agreement. Once again Greez shouted from the cockpit. "Whoa hold on a second, if we're splitting up, does that mean each of us is going with one of the kids?" Altta understood what Greez was getting at. He was hoping that he would get to go with a Jedi either for protection of intimidation...But sadly Cere crushed his hopes with on sentence. She looked at the younger pair with a sad look on her face. "No Greez. I think these two have some places of their own to be..." Cal and Altta looked at each other and without thinking, took each others hands in their own. They did indeed have somewhere to be. Even though neither of them mentioned it, they both were hoping to visit some places of their past while they were here and once again Cere showed that she understood more than was spoken by airing this out in words. They both turned their attention back to the former Jedi who had brought up a map of the planet. "Alright, so we'll gather as much information as we can and at dusk we'll meet here..." She pointed to a spot on the map. "....To share our findings and discuss the next step."  
"Alright, time to grab some seat....Coruscant's getting pretty big in the window..."  
Cal and Altta stood from their spots on the couch and followed Cere into the cockpit. They both stood in awe for a few moments, taking in the planet that neither of them had seen in years. Both took a deep breath as they looked at each other before they both took their seats in the cockpit ready for landing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter Cal and Altta do some reminiscing and the Bounty Hunt gets underway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologise about the massive gap between the last chapter and this chapter. It took me a long time to finish it and then once I did I had reservations about weather it would be interesting or not. I had a huge internal battle with myself as to if I was going to upload it as is or if I was going to scrap in and start all over again..... In the end I just decided to upload it as it and see what the reaction is.
> 
> Anyway. I hope you enjoy the continued tale of Cal and Altta.....P.S: The chapter where Cal and Altta ACTUALLY kiss for the first time is steadily approaching ;)

When they landed on Coruscant, Cere and Greez had left first with strict instructions to wait at least 30 minuets before the two Jedi left so as not to arouse suspicion. When the 30 minuet mark was nearly closer, the pair made sure they had everything they needed which mainly meant to make sure that they had BD with them and to make sure their Lightsabers were safely hidden from sight. Cal wore the poncho he had with him from Bracca while Altta wore the one loaned to her by Cere. It was dark brown and wrapped around her like a cape, pinning at her shoulder with a buckle and flowed down in a reverse cone shape, ending just before it reached her knees. It had a large hood at the back which Altta pulled up to try and hide her face some what. All the features she had came from her father, down to the colour of her eyes, which meant that she had a very familiar face. If anyone recognised her then the game would be up and it would put the pair of them in danger. The pair walked the streets of their home planet, not really sure where they were going. They were letting their instincts guide them. Before long they reached a familiar part of town, one that Altta knew very well. She stopped and looked up at the building in front of her. Cal noticed that she had suddenly stopped and turned to make his way back over to her.

"Something wrong?"

Altta didn't look at him when she answered. She pointed at a window high up on the building. "I used to live there..."

Cal followed her finger to look at the window. It didn't look like much. One side of the window was boarded up with wood while the other had a spider web of cracks that threatened to break if someone so much breathed a bit to hard on it. He leaned in a bit closer to her and lowered his voice. "You didn't live at the temple?"

"Given the circumstances of my parents lives the Council granted them permission to live offsite." Altta looked around her, sadness in hear heart. "It's changed somewhat..." This used to be a nice neighbourhood but now it looked like any other slum on any other planet. People loitered in the street hoping to make a quick buck on shady dealings, homeless and drunks littered doorways and being dumpsters, sleeping where ever they could find shelter. It made her heart ache and she was glad that her mother couldn't see what had become of the home she had made for her family. Altta walked over to a spot on the wall and began running her fingers over the metal work of the building. Cal watched her curiously. "What are you looking for?"

"...I know it's here...." She ignored his question as she went down the wall, looking up and down trying to find the thing she was looking for. She stopped at the side of a small trash receptacle that was blocking her way but she needn't have gone any further. Her fingers traced over a small scratch that was made on the metal exterior. She pushed aside the heavy dumpster and found what she was looking for. She ran a comforting hand over the marks made. Cal came up beside her and did the same. His eyes closed and she could see that he was using his ability. After only a few seconds he broke from his trance and looked at his companion with a smile. "You and your mother engraved this.." On the wall in front of them was the initials of Altta, her mother and her father. She smiled back, this time with a genuine happy smile. It was a good memory to have. "Yeah. We we left for Mom to have her baby she had a feeling that we wouldn't return so she decided we should carve our initials here so that it would always be remembered as our home."

"I bet you had a lot of good memories here." Cal ran his hand over the markings once more, this time committing them to memory. BD popped up over his shoulder and took a scan of it which made them both chuckle.

"A lot of amazing memories...Me and Mom in the kitchen, her making dinner...Dad tucking me in at night and telling me stories of my Grandfather...." She turned to Cal with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "...A lot of bad memories too..."

"Like what?" Altta slipped her arm inside Cal's and the pair walked away, her memories flooding back to her. They turned away from the building and continued on their way.

"Well, between you and me I wasn't always the best student...I got in trouble a lot especially with my Dad..."

Cal's voice was still a whisper. "He was your Master, wasn't he?"

"Well technically my Mom was. As my Father already had and apprentice he couldn't officially take me on but the Council turned a blind eye every now and then when he had a valuable lesson to teach...So you could say I got lucky and had to Masters." 

"Was it hard with them being your parents?" He had so many questions and it was nice to be able to talk about it, even if this wasn't exactly the right time or place.

"Yes and no. The familiarity of them made it easier but I sometimes resented them a bit. Parent's are meant to be strict by nature but then add the added job of Mentor and it's almost suffocating. It was also hard when they went out on missions and not knowing if they were ever coming back. During the Clone Wars my Father could be away for months at a time. I remember one time he was gone for so long and we got a report that he had died. I was so angry that I was ready to jump in the nearest ship and run to avenge him... But Mother...She was so calm. 'Your Father is alive. He's much to stubborn to die' she had said. Sure as starlight, two days later Father walked through the door being half carried by Uncle Anikin." She smiled as she remembered the memory of Anikin helping a limping Obi Wan onto the couch and then carrying her out on his back to get ice cream so that her parents could have some alone time. 

"Uncle Anikin?" Her smiled dropped. She had been so lost in the memory that she had let the name slip. She battled in her mind with what to say, eventually settling on the truth. 

"He err, he was my Father's apprentice. He was like a brother to Father and when I was born he was asked to be my Godfather so to me he was always known as Uncle Anikin."

"Did he survive the Purge?"

"No. He was one of the first to die when the order went out." Even though it wasn't the whole truth, Cal didn't need to know the rest of the story. Altta feared that if he knew the truth his feelings, or at the very least, opinion of her would change. 

Silence ensued between the two of them for the longest time while they walked. Eventually they came to a large open space that made them stop in their tracks. There were pockets of people dotted here and there but that's not what had them feeling like they couldn't breath. In front of them a long, beautifully carved staircase led up to a very large square building with spires protruding from it's roof. Altta removed her hood to get a better look. She tightened her arm around Cal's, breathing though a parted mouth and feeling the heat prick behind her eyes. Cal looked up at the building with the same expression. Neither of them could take their eyes off it of.

"The Jedi Temple...." Altta whispered it almost like she was dreaming.

"Not so much any more..." Cal's expression changed to one of anger. His eyes narrowing and his jaw clenching. All over the sides of the building and up the stairs hung the Flag's and Banners of the Empire, fluttering in the wind.

"I thought they had burned it to the ground..." Altta was really struggling to hold back her tears now.

"Clearly they thought it served a better purpose...." Cal's voice betrayed his feelings even if he was trying to hide them. And he was right. It seemed that the Emperor had the idea that it was more of an insult to the Jedi to take over their home and twist it for his own use than to tear it down where it could become a symbol of martyrdom. Altta couldn't bare to look at it anymore. She turned her body so her back was facing the building, leaning into Cal and resting her head on her shoulder. She felt him place his free hand against her back almost in a protective way. Neither of them had intended to end up here. They were honestly just wandering around the City with no idea what they were looking for but it seemed a higher purpose had brought them here... This was the moment that they needed to face their Demons...However it seemed like this was only the beginning. 

As they stood there contemplating their next move, Altta noticed a couple of Storm Troopers, obviously doing rounds on Guard Duty eye them suspiciously. She glanced around and the other people nearby and noticed that they were all wearing Empire Officer uniforms....So that's what it was being used for? The Officers headquarters. Maybe even a training school.... And here they were, two civilians who looked as if they were in a lovers embrace. She was also worried that one of them might recognise her face. Altta had to think quickly or they would be in trouble. She couldn't pull her hood back up, that was too suspicious....So plan B. Taking her arm from Cal's, she reached up and wrapped both of them around his neck and pulled herself close. It took Cal by surprise as a small blush crept across his cheeks.

"Altta, what are you doing?...Now is not the tim-"

"Oh Jonesie...I wish you didn't have to leave so soon...."

He eyed her, his mouth falling over a silent 'what'. She gestured with her head to where the two Troopers stood watching them. Understanding what she was doing, he placed his hands on the small of her back and pulled her close so they were almost touching nose to nose. "I'm sorry Boa... But I have to do my duty. To serve the Empire is a great honour."

"Of course, it just came so soon...But I know you'll be an Admiral before you know it. Just be safe, my love..."

"I will." The two close off the play they were putting on by placing their foreheads against one another. The Storm Troopers, having at least enough decency to not intrude on a tender goodbye seemed satisfied enough and went on their way. Altta let out a sight of relief and pulled away though she still kept her hands on his shoulders. "That was a close one."

"Your a terrible actor..." Cal was smirking slightly.

"Oh really? 'To serve the Empire'? Was that best you could do? And what was with that name you gave me? Boa?!"

"It worked didn't it?" He was starting to look smug. Altta couldn't help one of the corners of her mouth lifting as she gave a shrug. Yes, it did work. At that moment they both realised that they were still in each others grasps. This was it, the time felt right. They both leaned into each other slowly, Altta's eyes fluttering closed. She felt a small amount of contact as Cal's lips brushed hers when they were suddenly yanked away. BD beeped from Cal's back, he had been so quite for most of the trip that she had completely forgotten he was there. "Hey!" She almost shouted, her eyes shooting open. Annoyed that once again they had been interrupted. She had the right mind to grab his face and force the kiss. This kept happening. She glared at Cal to see him looking over his shoulder at two male aliens who were walking past talking. She was about tell him off when she started to hear the conversation between the two males.

"So you went to see Jinklo Chuka, yesterday, right?" The first male said, a little bit too loudly.

"Yeah.... I heard he's looking for Pilots to add to his payroll...Seems like his drug business is booming..." If they wanted to be discreet about it, they were doing a very good job. 

Cal and Altta glanced at each other knowingly. They hadn't intended to find any information here but it found them. The first male continued as he passed them...Even though they were a good few feet away from them now the Jedi could still hear them clearly. "I'm looking to get a girl myself, if you know what I mean..." The two aliens snickered and bumped elbows against each other. Altta grimaced. She knew exactly what he meant. "....I'm on my way to that place around the corner to inspect some goods if you wanna join me."

"Sure. I got no else betta ta go... Might as well see what I'll be smugglin'."

Cal and Altta turned to look at each other and with a nod, Altta pulled up her hood and they began to follow the two men to their destination.

The pair followed the two men to a shady looking canteena not far from the Temple. Cal and Altta took a seat in a corner booth that was covered in shadow, trying not to draw attention to themselves. The two men they were following sat themselves down at a table by an open doorway that was guarded by a large looking man. Clearly this was the back room where the illegal dealings went down. It wouldn't be easy to get a look inside so they would just have to wait. Looking around them at the other patrons of the canteena it was clear to see that this was not the type of place frequented by every day citizens. A lot of people were carrying blasters that they did little to hide and at different tables around them gambling games such as dice and arm wrestling were taking place. Not long after the two Jedi had sat down, a waiter appeared in front of them. "What can I get yea?"

"Nothing, thanks..." Cal didn't look at the waiter as he spoke.

"Look, if ya not gonna order then get out..." 

Altta decided it was best to play along. "We'll have two Ice Tea's and two bowls of whatever you have special today..."

Cal leaned in to whisper in Altta's ear. "What are you doing? We don't have any money...." 

Altta held up a hand to Cal to signal him to be quite and then waved it in front of her. "....On the house...."

The waiter, who had been writing down the order repeated it back. "So that's two Ice Tea's and two specials...On the house... I'll get that right out for ya..." The droid turned and made his way towards the bar. Altta smiled happy that her mind trick worked. Cal looked at her in surprise. "How'd you do that?"

Altta shrugged as she looked at him. "A little trick my dad taught me... It's standard stuff."

Cal huffed and slouched back in his chair annoyed. "I can't do that...."

"I'll teach you...One day." Altta giggled which lightened Cal's mood again and earning her a chuckle back. The pair were silent for a while while they waited for their order and as the kept an eye on the two men they were observing. Things didn't happen for quite a while and the two Padawan's were starting to wonder if they had followed the wrong lead. Sighing, Altta removed the band from the top of her head and placed it on the table, rubbing out her hair in an attempt to stop the headache that threatened to appear. Glancing down at the band, Cal's attention was drawn to the pattern on it. He took it between his finger and thumb and brought it to his face to get a closer look. That's when he realised what it was made from. It was made from hair with three different colours. One was a deep brown, the other a light brown and the third a blond...But it wasn't just any hair, it seemed like it was made out of the braids from Padawans. He turned to Altta and asked the question he had just run though his head. "Is this made from Padawan braids?"

Altta smiled and took it from him so she could gaze at it proudly. "Yeah. This ones my Dad's..." She started pointing to each of the diffrent strands of hair. "This one's my Mom's.... And this one's..." She hesitated a little as she ran her finger over the blond strand.... "Is Uncle Anikin's...." She smiled a little wider as she continued to run her fingers over the band. "Mom thought I should have a little bit of the people I love with me so she made me this just before I left...Female Padawan's don't usually braid their hair but she was adamant as a child that she wanted one so she did it herself.... It's nice to have them close." She brought the band to her lips and gave it a small kiss before she slipped it back into her hair.

Cal smiled warmly at the move. "It's great that they kept them all this time.... It's a big step when you pass the trials and get to cut it off."

"Yeah." Altter turned to Cal asking a question herself that had run through her own mind. "Cal I've been wondering, when you landed on Bracca, how did you survive? I mean, you were in Jedi robes... It must have been hard to blend in, especially when the Empire were searching for you."

Cal shock his head as if he was trying to not remember the memory. He stared down at the table as he spoke. "I was lucky.... The place the pod crashed to was far from any person for miles. It was a literal trash heap... I managed to find some cloths that fit so I cut up my robes and threw them in a fire pit that was burning close by...Then I wandered around until I was eventually found my Prauf. He thought I was some other scrappers kid that had been left orphaned or something... I never corrected him and he never spoke of it. After that he took care of me, fed me, got me work... Let me stay at his place until I could get one of my own.... He saved me life."

"Sounds like a true friend."

Cal nodded, still not looking at her. "The best I ever had.... Until now..." It was then that he looked up at her and smiled which made Altta blush slightly as she smiled back. "The worst thing I had to do was to cut off my braid.... Felt like that last part of my old life had gone...."

Altta took her hand and rubbed it between Cal's shoulders. "I'm sorry Cal... I know that must have been tough." Cal didn't answer back, instead he reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out something, handing it to Altta. She looked down at it in surprise. A line of red hair in a thin braid lay in the palms of her hands. "You kept it!" She couldn't hide her surprise as her voice raised a bit. Cal smiled at her reaction. "I couldn't bring myself to burn it with my robes..." 

Altta ran her thumb over the hair, feeling more happy than she really should... To her it felt like she was holding Cal's past in her very hands and it was nice to know that he trusted her with something so precious. Just as she was about to ask something, the waiter returned with their order. She quickly pulled her hands under the table to hide it and tucked it into her belt pouch. The waiter put the drinks down first and then the two plates of food. "Enjoy." He left without waiting for a thank you. The pair looked at their food with pale faces. On the plates in front of them were creatures that resembled giant grey slugs that was steaming. The smell coming off of it was something akin to a latrine after someone with bowel problems had been inside. The cook had tried to make it appetising by laying it on a bed of green's but there was nothing anyone could do to get either of them to even think about eating it. Altta pushed her plate way from her as she tried to keep down the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach from coming to the surface. "I've lost my appatite...." Cal did the same and picked up his cup to examine it. He sniffed it and then took a dubious sip... He smacked his lips and turned to Altta. "At least the tea is alright..."

"I'll take your word for it...." After the food there was no way Altta was going to touch anything that came from the kitchen. Just as she was about to voice a consideration to leave and start making her way to the meeting point with Cere and Greeze, three men walked past their table and took a seat with the two men that had brought them here. Luckily they were close enough to hear what was being said and it appeared that this was a planned meeting which was giving them enough information to be useful.

"Jinklo will be at his club tonight.... He wants you there to discuss a run." One of the new man, who was clearly the gang leader, said to one of the alien guys.

"I'll be there...."

"Good. No one knows, understand." It wasn't so much as a question as it was a threat. The alien guy swallowed hard and nodded, clearly intimidated. "Here's what you'll be transporting." He snapped his fingers and the guy guarding the open doorway moved aside so one of the men who had come with the gang leader could enter. After a few moments he returned but he wasn't alone. He was dragging behind him a female 

Twi'lek covered in chains. She was struggling against him and begging him to let her go but she was no match for him. Around them no one else in the canteena even battered an eyelid. It was obvious to her that this was a normal occurrence here. She could feel her jaw clench and instinctively her hand reached for her Lightsaber only to feel Cal's hand gently touch hers at her hip. She looked up at him and he shock his head gently. She relaxed, finally realising that if she made a scene now, not only would they be discovered as Jedi, but she would compromise the mission and they would lose their target. After a bit more, this time hushed, conversation between the men, the girl was lead back into the doorway and out of sight. Nothing more was said between the men and they all stood and left the canteena. The two Jedi let out a loud breath they had both been holding in and turned to each other. "Well...At least we know Jinklo will be at his club tonight." Cal said running his hand though his hair.

"Yeah.... But that girl. She looked as young as me..." Altta's eyes drifted to the doorway. It took all her inner strength not to rise from the table and fight her way into the back to rescue the poor girl.

Cal sighed to the statement and placed his hand on top of Altta's. "I know... But we can't help her now. The only way we can save her is to get this guy locked up before she can be trafficked... Her and other girls like her will be safe once this guy gets off the streets."

"Yeah... Yeah your right...." Altta glanced out of the door as it opened and saw that dusk was fast approaching. "We should get going to met Cere.... It's nearly time." Cal agreed and they both stood and left the canteena to make there way to Jinklo Chuka's club.

It was night by the time they arrived and the street's around the club were getting crowded with people looking to have a good time and enjoy the night life. Jinklo's club was located in the Red Light district of Coruscant's large entertainment area. As they walked to the meeting point, women that were half dressed danced in windows trying to beckon punters to earn a few credits... Men were stood on street corners trying to pedal stolen wears and all sorts of people were handing out flyers in an attempt to get people to come spend money at the club's and bars they were hired by. Cal and Altta rounded one last corner into a back ally opposite the club they were targeting. Cere and Greez was already there, hiding in the shadows of a doorway. Cere was leaning back against the wall, her arms crossed but pushed off when she saw the two Padawan's approaching. "Good, your here. Did you get everything done that you needed to....?" Cal and Altta looked at each other. They both knew what Cere was getting at... She wanted to know if they had confronted their past enough to focus on the mission.... And to improve themselves as Jedi. The both turned back to Cere and nodded. "Good.... Did you find out anything we can use?"

"We followed two men to a canteena... They were meeting some of Jinklo's gang about a job he has for them." Cal folded his arms over his chest, getting serious.

Yeah, it seems like they'll be smuggling kidnapped girls off planet.... Where we don't know." Altta squeezed her fingers into her hips as she felt herself getting angry again. 

"Did you discover Jinklo's whereabouts?" Cere asked looking between the pair.

"Right where we want him.... At his club." Cal replied with a smirk.

"Those guys weren't exactly discreet about it..." Altta looked at Cal, speaking to him more than she was the whole group.

"Yeah well.... People ain't exactly gonna speak out about this guy." Everyone turned their attention to Greez. "Seems he a big syndicate boss that's not afraid to resort to violence if the need arises.... You either agree with him and turn a blind eye or you got against him and you end up 6 feet under...." The Latero shivered showing his fear on getting on the wrong side of this guy.

"He's an Ardennian.. How bad can he be?" Altta couldn't understand how a harmless looking creature could be so evil.

"It's not what he does, but what he orders... He's got an army of mercenaries and bounty hunters on his payroll...." Cere tutted in disgust and Altta then understood. It's not what you know, it's who you know.

"What did you guys find out?" Cal asked turning his attention back to Cere.

"Not much." Cere cupped her chin in her hands. "But what we did find out is that he has a weakness for young, pretty girls... Could be our way to get close to him."

"So what's the plan?" Altta wished she hadn't asked. All three of her companions turned their eyes to her, smiles masking their features. "Oh no.... no no no no! No way! I'm not going anywhere near that four armed freak!"

"What's wrong with four arms?" Greez sounded offended. 

"He'll get all.... Handsy...." Altta gestured with her hands as if she was squeezing her own boobs. Cere sighed and took a step forward. "Your the only one who can get close to him.... I can't do it. I'm to old...."

"Come on Cere...." Cere held up her hands as if saying 'I know what your gonna say, but don't say it.' Altta tried another angle. She turned to Cal and pointed a finger at him. "What about Cal? He's a good looking guy.... Soft features. We get him a wig and a dress and he could pass..."

"No way Altta! This ones all on you." She starred at Cal with pleading eyes but he didn't let up. Giving up, knowing she wouldn't get away from it, she stamped her foot and then looked around her. She grabbed Cal by the collar and stepped back into the hidden doorway Cere had been hiding in. "What are you doing?" Cal asked her in confusion. 

"Shut up and just stand still." Altta removed her cape and handed it to Cere who stepped forward and held it up as a barrier. Greez turned his back as Altta removed her jacket. Next was her boots and belt which was followed by her trousers. Cal turned his face away blushing as he finally realised what she was doing. One she had removed her trousers, she pulled her dress-top down so it covered enough her her to be comfortable. Because it was strapless and because it was pulled down, it ended up showing a lot of cleavage but still hid everything that needed to be hid. She then placed her boots back on and picked up her cloths, handing them to Cere. Finally she pulled the band from her hair and pulled it around so it hung over one shoulder. She cleared her throat letting Cal know that he could look again. He took one look at her and his blush deepened. Altta blushed too seeing Cal's reaction and tried to cover up her chest with her crossed arms. "Let's just get this over with."

"R-Right...." He removed his own poncho, handing it also to Cere and turned to Altta.

"Cal... No Lightsabers." Cere signalled with her head to the Saber strapped to Cal's hip. Altta's was still strapped to the belt she had taken off but Cal felt hesitant about it. How would he be able to protect Altta if he didn't have his weapon. After a few seconds debate, he unclipped it and Greez took it from him. "I'll take good care of it, kid."

"Thanks Greez."

"Alright. Greez and I will hide out in the back area. There's a door we scouted that is always open with no guard. Try and get Jinklo's attention and convince him to go somewhere private. Once you lead him outback, I'll meet you and we'll lead him back to the Mantis. Got it?"

Altta nodded, suddenly feeling very nervouse and now unsure about all of this. She looked at Cal who held out his hand to her. She took it and with one last nod to Cere and Greez, the exited the ally and entered the club.


End file.
